Four indoor tennis courts at the Lea Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre were set to be ripped up, prompting fury from tennis fans, reports Marco Marcelline
A controversial plan to replace every indoor tennis court at the Lea Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park with padel courts has been put on hold amid backlash from tennis players.
In June, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) unilaterally approved plans which would see its four indoor tennis courts turned into seven double and two single padel courts.
The LVRPA expected construction on the courts to start this month, before opening to the public on 1st October this year.
In its business case promoting the move, the LVRPA said it expected monthly padel users to be more than double the 4,000 tennis players who currently use the venue each month.
The move prompted backlash from tennis court users who say they were not consulted, with a petition against it gaining over 1,000 signatures.
In response, the LVRPA paused the project while a rushed consultation with the tennis community was undertaken.
The Echo understands that the LVPRA is now considering a hybrid approach which sees two of the indoor tennis courts being converted to padel, leaving two courts for tennis or converting some outdoor tennis courts for padel.
The executive team has also been recommended to completely step back from the scheme it approved back in June and plan new ways to introduce padel to the centre. A final executive decision will be made on Thursday, 31st July.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) previously slammed the padel plans, describing them as “particularly disappointing”.
A spokesperson told the Echo: “The LTA and Tennis Foundation invested £500,000 in the original tennis facility which is an important legacy from the London 2012 Paralympics. The courts are still heavily used with over 700 children on the programme, 100,000 players accessing the facilities each year, a thriving disability programme and links to local schools.
“We will be engaging with LVRPA and the operator GLL to encourage them to consider other options that can see both tennis and padel played on site.”
Julian Wharton lives just a five minute cycle from the Lea Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre and plays tennis there every week.
He said the “unnecessary” decision to close the indoor courts would mean he would instead go to a private tennis club located a 20-minute drive away from him.
LVRPA’s move would essentially make playing tennis unplayable during winter months, he said, adding: “I seriously injured myself playing on a wet court in February so playing indoors is one of the only ways to continue to train at a good level properly and safely through the winter.”
Speaking before the project was paused, the LVPRA said it had created a fund to help community groups to “transition to the outdoor courts, learn padel or, if needed, to find alternative facilities”.
Defending its plans, a spokesperson said tennis would still remain “well catered for” with “at least 90%” of coaching programmes moving to the six outdoor courts.
Keen padelista Marcus Lange, who started playing the sport two years ago, said padel’s popularity owed itself to it being “more accessible” to people of all abilities.
He told the Echo: “It’s much more inclusive; you can start a padel match feeling quite inept but finish it feeling like you’ve really got to grips with it. It’s definitely more addictive that way. It’s also more sociable [than tennis] because it’s mainly played as a doubles game.”
Agreeing with the LVPRA’s assessment that there is growing demand and need for more padel courts in the capital, Marcus said: “London needs more courts to drive the price down a bit; padel is expensive at the moment because of how ‘trendy’ it is. If prices don’t go down it could become seen as a privileged sport, much like tennis is.”
Padel is played with solid, stringless rackets and balls that are similar to tennis balls but with slightly less pressure. Players serve underhand, and the ball can bounce off the walls before being returned by the opponent.
Using the same scoring system as tennis, padel has seen a recent surge in popularity, with over 400,000 adults and juniors in Britain playing the sport at least once last year – up from just 15,000 in 2019.
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or annually
More Information about donations
