Brighton & Hove City Council and its leisure operator, Freedom Leisure will be opening the courts at Withdean Sports Complex.

Work will begin in August and the courts are expected to be ready to use in September and will be housed in what is currently the indoor sports hall, replacing two tennis courts.

An indoor pickleball court will also be installed at the same time.

Game4Padel, which operates padel courts locally, is funding the changes at Withdean, meaning the new courts will be provided at no cost to the council.

Brighton’s new indoor padel courts could open as early as September (Image: BHCC)

This decision has been made by Freedom Leisure in partnership with the council following a detailed review of participation levels, usage data and recent engagement with the LTA on a padel strategy for the city.

An extra outside tennis court is currently being added to the three already outside, each of which has good drainage, windbreaks and floodlights. 

The venue’s adult and junior tennis coaching sessions will continue to be provided.

Councillor Alan Robins, Cabinet member for Sports, Recreation and Libraries, said: “This is fantastic news for local padel players and anyone who would like to try the sport but has struggled to access a court.

“Padel is an incredibly inclusive sport and is proving very successful at helping people get active and stay healthy. It is also a great way to socialise. Simply, the more courts we have, the more we’re able to meet the huge demand we are seeing for court time.

“We know there will be people who are disappointed we are having to reduce the number of tennis courts at Withdean, but unfortunately the indoor courts there are only in use for around a third of the time they’re available, and with such high demand for padel courts, we have to take fair and rational decisions on the best use of our facilities.”





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