Rocks Lane planning applications opposed by local residents’ group

Aerial view of the Rocks Lane sports hub; image Rocks Lane

Chiswick Common Sports centre makes three applications, once of them retrospective, for the covered padel courts

Rocks Lane sports centre on Chiswick Common has applied to Hounslow Council for retrospective planning permission for its building on Fishers Lane which houses four of the club’s padel courts and a spectator and social area adjacent to it, as well as a ‘wellness room’ – gym equipment and designated areas for players to stretch and carry out warm-up or recovery activities.

The planning application, (P2026/1671) also asks for retrospective permission for the sports centre’s change in hours of operation from 08.00 am – 10.00 pm to 07.00 am – 10.00 pm seven days a week.

Covered padel courts and spactator area; image Rocks Lane

Mid Chiswick Society and Friends of Chiswick Common object

The residents’ association which represents people who live opposite the Common is asking its members and the wider public to register their objections to it on the grounds that it has been built on Common Land, a status protected by law.

Though the sports centre has planning permission from Hounslow Council, they say it should not have been granted.

‘It is Common Land, and as such it cannot be built on – it is protected by ancient tradition and statute, and the Council is supposed to protect this. If in exceptional circumstances building happens it must go through a special tribunal to the Secretary of State (DEFRA)’, says Jackie Elton, Chair of the Mid Chiswick Society and Friends of Chiswick Common groups.

Dukes Meadows is also Common Land and there are a number of sports facilities there too, which have received planning permission from Hounslow Council over many years. The Council has said in the past that sports facilities are considered permitted usage as they are used by the local community, and Common Land is meant to be kept for the use of the public.

Friday Night Fives; image Rocks Lane

For the benefit of the community or for the benefit of the rich?

Rocks Lane owner Chris Warren has submitted the application under the F2 use class – Local community.

Jackie Elton says:

‘He is effectively turning Common Land which should be accessible and inclusive to a private elite space for those who can afford to pay’.

The club disputes this, pointing out that their facilities are available to local schools and youth groups to play a whole range of sports, not just padel.

‘Rocks Lane Multi-Use Sports Centre provides multi use floodlit courts allowing for tennis, padel tennis, 5-a-side football, netball and hockey to be played all year round. This includes three 3G pitches, alongside 4G football surfaces.

‘There are twelve existing padel tennis courts, four of which are covered.

‘Rocks Lane is used widely by the community including different age groups, genders and abilities. The sports centre supports a number of local schools and charities, including Streets Smart and W4 Youth’.

Padel players; image Rocks Lane

Increased demand from padel players to play in the early morning

The Club says in its application it has operated breakfast club activities on the site between 07.00 and 08.00 since 2004. The primary users are Orchard House School, who use the facilities on a daily basis during term time.

The Sports Centre has also seen increased demand from members of the community who would prefer to play padel tennis earlier in the morning.

The application to open an hour earlier is being made retrospectively because it was not set out expressly in the Club’s agreement with the Council ‘due to an administrative oversight’, so they now want to regularise the position.

They say the installation of the spectator area and the wellness room (built in 2024) ‘enable the Sports Centre to continue offering reliable, year-round opportunities for physical activity and social interaction, contributing positively to local community health and wellbeing’.

Last year’s winners of the European Padel League, the Australian team, The Padel Roos

Hosting the European Padel League

Rocks Lane has positioned itself as a leading centre for padel tennis. It is hosting the European Padel League this summer for the second time, giving spectators the opportunity to see some of the sport’s best players in action.

READ ALSO: International padel tournament returns to Rocks Lane Chiswick in July

Chiswick residents and local businesses benefit from this, they say, not just their regular players.

(L) Area of Rocks Lane sports centre from the planning application; (R) Map showing residential streets opposite; Google Maps

Consulting the neighbours

Rocks Lane say they have consulted local people through a letter drop to neighbouring households and an online survey.

‘Of the six respondents, one was positive, and the other five raised concerns around noise, disturbance and conflict with existing lease or planning conditions’.

Their planning consultants LUC cite paragraph 104 of the National Planning Policy Framework as justification for building on open land:

‘Paragraph 104 of the NPPF states that existing open space should not be built on unless the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the benefits of which clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use’.

They have carried out a noise assessment, which concludes the additional early morning hour has only a ‘slight impact, and likely be subjectively inaudible’.

Jackie Elton disagrees. She says it is disturbing local residents.

Before and after illustrations of the structure covering the four central padel courts; planning application

Extending floodlighting hours to the indoor courts and giving them transparent sides

Rocks Lane have two other planning applications in concurrently. The second, (P/2026/1671) seeks to make the structure more permanent, while the third (P/2026/1778) is to allow operation of floodlighting serving the covered padel courts between 0.800 am and 10.00 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

The application to make the structure more permanent does not seek to increase the number of courts, extend the operational footprint of the development, increase the height of the structure or materially alter the approved sporting use.

It does seek to make the existing structure stronger.

The original canopy was designed to be fully retractable. They want to give it fixed structural support arches to make it ‘more robust’ and give it transparent side and end weather protection panels.

‘The transparent nature of the side panels ensures that views through the structure are retained and helps preserve an open and lightweight appearance’.

The Mid Chiswick Society and Friends of Chiswick Common groups describe the structure as ‘huge’ and call it ‘a blot on the landscape’.

The application to extend the use of floodlighting in the indoor courts is to give the covered padel courts the same operational hours as the outside courts, the sports centre says.

The current condition of use is that the floodlights serving the covered padel courts shall not be operated after 9.00 pm on Saturday Sundays and bank holidays.

It ‘would not result in significant harm to neighbouring community’, they say.

‘The site has operated as a Floodlight sports facility for decades and the proposed variation merely seeks consistency with the long-established pattern of use’.

Jackie Elton’s residents group objects to the extension on the grounds that floodlighting ‘is intrusive and harms wildlife and causes light pollution’.

They have asked members of the Bedford Park Society to join them in opposing all three applications.

If the Council receives objections to the planning applications they will have to go before the Planning Committee so councillors can adjudicate the competing priorities.