Salford approves roof for four padel courts in Swinton

Salford City Council has approved a roof over four existing outdoor padel courts on Chorley Road in Swinton, giving the site planning clearance under application PA/2025/1220. The decision is marked “Approve with Conditions” and turns an already operating padel footprint into a covered venue rather than a new-build court block.

That matters because padel has moved well beyond a novelty in the north west. A roof changes how often a site can be used, widening the playable window for evening and weekend sessions and making the facility less dependent on dry weather. In a sport where court supply still trails demand in many places, the planning green light is often the step that separates an idea from a project that can actually be delivered.

The Swinton approval also sits inside a much busier Salford planning picture. Another council file, PA/2025/1538, covers demolition of existing buildings, a change of use and the temporary installation of eight padel courts with roof canopies for outdoor padel sports. A separate application, PA/2024/0259, proposed four padel tennis courts within the grounds of Ellesmere Bowling Tennis And Croquet. Together, the three files show padel being worked into different kinds of sites across the city, from established sports grounds to more flexible redevelopment plots.

Salford’s planning process also gives residents a route to inspect and comment on applications, which helps explain why these proposals are moving through a formal public system rather than appearing as isolated private developments. The mix of schemes suggests local authorities are now dealing with padel as a recurring land-use category, balancing recreation demand with the practicalities of existing neighbourhoods and sports estates.

The city’s wider sports pipeline points in the same direction. The University of Salford has submitted plans for new sports pitches as part of a major upgrade to its facilities, while Soul Padel has promoted a Salford campus partnership aimed at student and community wellbeing. Seen together, those projects suggest Salford is no longer treating padel as a one-off court trend. It is becoming part of the city’s repeatable sports development model, with Swinton the latest site to move through the system.