Ashford approves first outdoor padel courts at Sandyacres club

Ashford has signed off its first outdoor padel courts, turning a disused stretch beside Sandyacres Sports and Social Club’s function hall into two floodlit courts with all-weather roof covering. The approval gives the town a new public-facing entry point into one of Britain’s fastest-growing sports, while also showing how cautiously local operators are scaling the game.

Ashford Borough Council’s Planning Committee considered application PA/2026/0739 for the Sandyhurst Lane site in Kennington, with the club’s proposal listing two padel courts, associated lighting and roof covering. The application was received on 22 April 2026, validated on 24 April, and carried a calculated latest decision date of 26 June. Council records showed two objections and three supporting representations during consultation, before the committee backed the scheme at its meeting on 17 June.

For Sandyacres chairman Winston Michael, the approval is more than a facilities upgrade. He sees the project as a practical response to what local players want, and as a chance to give the club a stronger role in the borough’s sporting map after years in which investment, in his view, has not always favoured this side of town. Work is set to begin during the summer, with Michael planning a site visit with builders in July and expecting groundwork to start once the court equipment arrives, a process he said can take six to eight weeks.

The shape of the project matters. Rather than launching with a larger complex, Sandyacres is starting with two outdoor courts and the option to add coverings later if the club can raise another £60,000. That phased approach keeps the focus on making the site playable this year, but it also leaves the club dependent on whether the first courts can generate enough regular use to justify the next stage.

That question sits at the heart of what Ashford’s first outdoor courts really mean. Outdoor padel offers visibility and lower barriers to entry, especially at a long-established sports hub like Sandyacres, but British weather still shapes how often the courts can be used and how reliably they can be booked. The planned lighting and electronic gates tied to a booking system should help keep the facility practical for members and visitors, while the new courts reclaim space that had already slipped out of active use.

The council move also lands in a county where padel has already gathered momentum. Ashford’s indoor Square One venue, which opened in 2024, now advertises seven courts and calls itself Kent’s largest indoor padel club, with bookings handled through Playtomic. Across Great Britain, the LTA says 860,000 adults and juniors played padel at least once in the year to the end of 2025, up from 400,000 at the end of 2024, while court numbers rose to 1,553 across 559 venues. With average off-peak bookings priced at £7 per person per hour, or £27 per hour for a doubles court, the economics still favor broad participation if the courts can stay busy.