Members of Chapel Allerton Tennis and Squash Club in Leeds have voted overwhelmingly in favour of building two covered padel courts.
At an Extraordinary General Meeting held on Wednesday September 14, the proposed padel project was approved with 133 members voting in favour and just four against.
The club, situated in a well-heeled suburb north of Leeds city centre, has existed for over 140 years and has 16 tennis courts, six squash courts and a gym.
Like many members’ rackets clubs, it was hit badly by Covid-19 – particularly squash membership – and management have targeted padel as a vehicle to re-inject income and social vibrancy into the venue.
Chapel Allerton will now apply to the LTA for one of the £250,000 interest-free loans that the federation is currently offering existing tennis venues, repayable over 10 years.
The LTA offer stipulates that non-members must be able to use the court, although Chapel Allerton plan to prioritise members’ bookings and charge more for visitors.
The overall cost of the project is projected to be £331,795 which the club conservatively estimates will be recouped in four years and seven months.
The next stage is for the club to conduct surveys before applying for planning permission.
The two courts will be placed adjacent to the current three-court tennis dome behind the clubhouse, on the site of the current Court 8 and a hitting wall.
Padel has already proven a huge success elsewhere in Yorkshire at venues such as Rawdon, Harrogate Squash Club, Surge Padel (also in Harrogate), Huddersfield, Skipton and Ripon.
Chapel Allerton club manager Eddy Stallworthy assured members they would not incur any extra costs from padel and the entire project would be self-funded.
Management hope padel will help to counter-act increasing costs such as spiralling fuel bills (they use biomass boiler pellets imported from Russia which have almost doubled in price, costing the club an extra £17,300+ per year).
Stallworthy told The Padel Paper: “We’re delighted that our members have understood and supported the project and are invested in our vision for the future.
“As well as introducing this new, dynamic sport to the club, we want padel to help us create more of a social buzz so we compete with Chapel Allerton’s lively bar and restaurant scene.
“We thoroughly researched the impact that padel has had on other comparable clubs which made us feel really confident that this is a low-risk, high-reward venture.”
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