Plans have been submitted to Wiltshire Council for a new padel facility at Blacklands Lakes, a leisure site near Calne, which could lead to the replacement of some touring caravan and motorhome spaces.
Blacklands Lakes Ltd has requested permission to build four padel courts alongside a small café, reception area, and seating space within a new barn-style structure measuring 44 metres by 23 metres. If approved, the building would occupy a paddock currently used for touring caravans and motorhomes.
The site spans 15 acres and features six tree-lined camping paddocks and three small lakes, two of which are used for coarse fishing and one maintained as a nature reserve.
Blacklands Lakes also provides 110 pitches for caravans, campervans, motorhomes, and tents, in addition to a health club that has been operating since the 1990s, offering members access to a swimming pool, gym, and other facilities.
Padel, a sport combining elements of tennis and squash and played on a court roughly one-third the size of a standard tennis court, has been growing in popularity. According to the applicant, the addition of the facility would address a local demand, as there are currently only two padel venues in Wiltshire: one near Swindon, close to the M4, and another in Corsham.
Operating hours for the proposed padel facility would align with those of the existing health club, running from 7 am to 10 pm. Wiltshire Council is expected to make a decision on the application by mid-May, according to the Gazette & Herald.
For professionals in the outdoor hospitality sector, this proposal highlights the trend of leisure sites diversifying their offerings to include sports facilities, which may affect space allocation for traditional accommodations such as touring pitches.
Operators considering similar developments may need to balance new recreational amenities with the availability of caravan or camping spaces to maintain revenue streams and customer satisfaction.