New Padel courts at Chiswick Rugby Club backed by planners despite wildlife objections

Proposal for five padel courts; CGI Chiswick Rugby Club

Chiswick Rugby Club seeks to open up and attract more people in, but objectors are concerned about the impact on wildlife in Dukes Meadows

Chiswick Rugby Club’s application to build five Padel tennis courts at the club in Dukes Meadows has gained the approval of Hounslow Council’s Planning department but has received objections from a number of people concerned about the environmental impact on wildlife.

The Council received 66 submissions in support of the application and eight objections, including a petition with 45 signatures. The concerns expressed included noise and light pollution, no plan for improving traffic management and the detrimental effect on wildlife.

The club wants to build the courts on an area of ground between the rugby pitch and the nearby hockey club. Currently there is a mound of earth which was dumped there when the all-weather pitch was installed, which has since grassed over, and the club says there are no trees or hedges which would have to be removed in order to build the courts.

The area where the club is planning to build the padel courts; photograph Greengage / Chiswick RFU planning application

As well as the five courts, they want to put in three containers for ‘storage, reception and refreshment purposes’, as well as floodlights and ‘an entertaining space including seating and associated services including cycle parking’.

The club is trying to grow and open up its facilities to attract more people to use it as a social hub and has put in a lot of work making the grounds more attractive and inviting to visitors.

They have changed their business model so that instead of being reliant on donations and grants, they will be financially self-sustaining, so they are looking to attract different groups of people to the club and to bring in more income.

Developing the social side of the club

Last year they put up an awning beside the club house to extend the area of outside seating for socialising. Since the installation of new changing rooms, they have been able to develop women and girls’ rugby alongside the men’s teams and coaching for children.

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Chiswick Rugby Club proposes to open the courts from 7.00 am until 10.00 pm, with floodlighting so people can play in the dark, which objectors say will disrupt wildlife. Hedgehogs, bats and kestrels are among the wildlife that inhabit Dukes Meadows.

“There is a lot of wildlife in Dukes Meadows”, Jo Gilbert, founder of Wild Chiswick, told The Chiswick Calendar. “It is very disappointing that they don’t seem to take nature into consideration when they build, they just keep building and building”.

The area where the club is planning to build the padel courts; Chiswick RFU planning application

Dukes Meadows is Metropolitan Open Land which means it cannot be used for development, but it can be used for sports facilities.

A report by development consultants Iceni Projects Limited submitted to the Planning department on behalf of Chiswick Rugby Club concludes:

‘The Proposed Development would have a negligible impact on the physical and visual openness of the Metropolitan Open Land due to its location between existing artificial pitches, surrounding mature vegetation which filters and screens views towards the Site, and the nature of the Proposed Development itself being associated with sporting facilities’.

Hounslow’s Planning officers suggest there are conditions placed on the operation of the courts but say the increase in traffic and the ecological impact would be ‘acceptable’.

Since there have been objections the decision will go to a meeting of the Planning Committee for councillors to decide.

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