Cleethorpes zoo site approved for five new padel courts

North East Lincolnshire Council approved five outdoor padel courts on the former Jungle Zoo site off Kings Road in Cleethorpes, turning a long-vacant attraction into a new sports venue. The scheme includes four doubles courts, one singles court, a clubhouse built from shipping containers, changing rooms and storage, with rain canopies over four of the five courts for year-round use.

The approval lands on a site that has been in limbo since Jungle Zoo closed in 2022 because of high running costs. The land was later damaged by a suspected arson attack in July 2024, making the move into padel as much a reset for the property as a new recreational offer for the resort.

East Coast Padel, the operator behind the plan, already runs a club in Hull and says it was founded by four friends with a shared passion for sport and local community. Its Hull venue is built around two covered doubles courts and one singles court, a layout that gives the Cleethorpes project a nearby working model rather than a speculative first attempt.

That matters because padel’s recent expansion has often depended on venues that can do more than capture a burst of curiosity. Four covered courts in Cleethorpes should give the site more protection from weather disruption, while the shipping-container clubhouse points to a practical build designed to get the operation open without the cost of a fully conventional leisure complex. In a town that has already seen a former zoo become surplus to requirements, the plan shows how padel can fit into commercial redevelopment when operators need a compact footprint and a fast route to trading.

Planning reports noted dozens of supportive comments during the application process, and the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society described the scheme as an additional entertainment facility for the resort. The application had been submitted earlier in 2026 before approval was granted on June 17, and the timing puts Cleethorpes into a wider wave of British padel development.

The Lawn Tennis Association describes padel as the fastest-growing sport in the world, and projects like this are testing how far that momentum can travel beyond the obvious urban club sites. In Cleethorpes, the bigger question is whether five courts on a former zoo will serve a proven base of players or help create one from scratch.