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30
Apr
David Lloyd will not 'give up' on Harrogate padel courts
A councillor has warned that a Harrogate leisure club will not give up on plans to operate two padel courts despite concerns over noise.
David Lloyd converted former tennis courts at its club on Oakdale Place without planning permission.
Oak Beck Valley Residents Association likened the sound of balls being hit during padel matches to gunshots and claimed it had led to “loss of the peaceful enjoyment of homes and gardens”.
A retrospective planning application was rejected last September and councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee refused a new proposal that included an acoustic sound barrier on Tuesday (April 30).
However, Cllr Tom Martin, a Conservative who represents Valley Gradens ward on Harrogate Town Council, warned that the company would not “give up”.
Speaking at a town council planning committee last night (April 29) he urged the authority, which had also objected to the plan, to engage with David Lloyd ahead of any further planning applications which may come forward.
Cllr Martin said:
I am concerned that this is not the end of it. They [David Lloyd] are not going to go away, they have spent a lot of money. Having been a member of David Lloyd, I know how they operate.
Can I suggest that as a town council we seek to be proactive about this and we invite David Lloyd to come and talk to us about what they plan to do? I completely agree that the residents are living in a very, very difficult scenario where David Lloyd keep coming back with different plans.
We should put the onus on David Lloyd about what they intend to do now.
Town councillors agreed to write to David Lloyd to request pre-application consultation ahead of any potential planning application.
'Unacceptable harm'
Councillors voted against council case officer Lisa Alder's recommendation to approve the latest plans at Tuesday's meeting.
Ms Alder said the proposal had been revised to ensure it would not result in “unacceptable harm” by including measures such as the acoustic barriers.
The council’s environmental health officer had recommended that the courts could be used between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Saturday and between 9am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays.
David Lloyd stopped using the courts last year amid the noise concerns.
Objectors claimed they were forced to “close their windows to relax” as the sound of the balls being hit reverberated around Oak Beck valley.
The complaints saw the council step in and issue an enforcement notice in October 2025, which ordered David Lloyd to cease all use of the facilities.
But, on Tuesday, councillors voted unanimously to refuse the latest plan on the grounds that local residents would be “negatively impacted” by the noise generated from the site.
The Stray Ferret has approached David Lloyd for comment to ask whether it intends to appeal the decision or submit a new application, but we had not received a response by the time of publication.
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