Sport England objects again to padel courts replacing the YMCA astro pitch used by 16 football teams. Every padel scheme in the borough, counted.

A plan to replace the artificial football pitch at Maidstone YMCA with three padel courts is due to be decided this week. Sport England has objected to it for the second time in eight months.

The decision deadline on the application, 26/502641/FULL, is Tuesday 15 September (Mid Kent planning register). It is an almost identical resubmission of a scheme the council refused on 2 February, and the statutory objection that killed the first one has not moved.

Behind it sits a question the borough has not answered: how much padel does Maidstone actually need? Our count of the planning register found 13 courts already approved across four sites, with the YMCA’s three on top of that.

Padel courts approved and proposed across Maidstone borough, by site and status

The fight at the YMCA is about football, not padel

Pulse Padel wants to convert the existing artificial grass pitch off Melrose Close into three outdoor doubles courts inside a steel mesh cage with glass ends. Its own website advertises the venue as opening in December 2026, “subject to planning” (Pulse Padel).

Sport England is a statutory consultee whenever a playing field is lost, and an artificial grass pitch counts as one. In its response of 7 August it set out what the two governing bodies told it. The Lawn Tennis Association supports the courts. Kent FA and the Football Foundation object, and gave usage figures for the pitch:

  • Coxheath and Farleigh FC, 8 teams
  • MPE FC, 5 teams
  • Maidstone Kestrels, 1 team
  • Athletic Melrose, 1 team
  • Core Athletic, 1 team

Kent FA says that count is from match-play data only, so training use is additional. It also says it has contacted YMCA Maidstone several times about pitch markings that do not comply with FA guidance, and that correct markings would let more clubs use the site.

The evidence base it points to is the borough’s own. The Maidstone Local Football Facilities Plan 2025 sets out the sums:

  • 346 teams in Maidstone
  • a requirement for nine full-size 3G pitches
  • seven that are community accessible
  • a shortfall of two, “with the greatest need in and around the Maidstone Town area”

Sport England’s verdict on the resubmission was blunt: “We appear to be at an impasse. The new information submitted by the applicants still does not address the fundamental issue: a playing pitch is being lost for a non-pitch sport.”

It says it would withdraw the objection on either of two conditions:

  • a recognised needs assessment, such as a Playing Pitch Strategy, shows the pitch is surplus
  • equivalent or better replacement provision is secured for football or another pitch sport

Neither exists yet. Sport England’s letter records that the council “is about to commission a Playing Pitch Strategy, anticipated for completion in Autumn 2027”. Until that lands, nobody can show the pitch is spare.

The council has now written a standard condition for padel noise

The February refusal gave three reasons: the loss of the pitch, an insufficient noise assessment, and a lighting assessment that did not deal with light spill beyond the site (decision notice, 2 February 2026).

On the resubmission, the environmental protection team has not been satisfied either. Its memo of 30 July says the acoustic assessment “indicates that the noise impact of this development would exceed what we would deem acceptable”. It then adds a detail worth noting: “We have developed a standard condition for Padel Courts.” Until the applicant can demonstrate compliance with that condition, the team recommends refusal.

Loose Parish Council, which took no position first time round, now says it cannot support the scheme. Its five objections cover the loss of football provision, maximum noise levels, missing application information, and a disagreement with the applicant’s figures on how much padel Maidstone already has. The council’s planning committee said existing and pipeline provision “will more than meet its stated target level”.

Residents split evenly on the first application: the officer’s report records 48 comments, 24 in support and 24 objecting.

Boughton Monchelsea: a 6am opening, refused once, back again

At Boughton Monchelsea, south of the town, Forever Padel is already open at Unit 1A, Monchelsea Farm on Heath Road. The council permitted the conversion of a storage and distribution building into five indoor courts on 16 December 2025. That permission runs for a temporary five years. Condition 5 says no activity may take place outside 0800 to 2200.

The operator has twice asked to start at 6am.

  • 26/500587/FULL, refused on 13 April 2026. The single reason was that the application produced no acoustic statement or other technical evidence that residential amenity would not be harmed.
  • 26/502722/FULL, validated on 27 July 2026, with a noise impact assessment attached. The decision deadline is Monday 21 September.

This time the council’s scientific officer is content. His memo of 18 August is one line long: “The submitted acoustic report is sufficient to allow the change of hours of use.”

The applicant’s planning statement makes four arguments:

  • the courts sit inside an enclosed industrial building, which contains the noise
  • the nearest home is about 40 metres away
  • predicted noise is 36 dB LAeq against a measured ambient level of 44 dB, which is 6 dB below the council’s own criterion
  • the building’s previous lawful use involved early deliveries and lorry movements, and the neighbouring nursery has staff on site from around 6am

Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council wants it refused, and wants it taken to planning committee if officers are minded to approve. Its objection, filed on 20 August, makes four points:

  • staff would arrive before 6am to open up, and residents nearby are likely to be asleep
  • traffic at the Heath Road junction would conflict with parents dropping children at the adjacent nursery, which shares the access
  • the applicants told a parish council meeting the facility would not open before 8am, and the parish did not object to the original application on that basis
  • the website now lists a gym, pilates, sauna and ice bath, sun beds, a pool table and a licensed bar, none of which “formed part of the original planning application”

The parish council also says it has had reports of significant light pollution from the site. Those are its allegations, recorded on the planning file; the council has not ruled on them.

What the register shows across the borough

Searching the Mid Kent planning register for “padel” returns four Maidstone borough sites:

Site Courts Status
Forever Padel, Monchelsea Farm, Boughton Monchelsea 5 indoor Permitted 16 Dec 2025, open now, 5-year temporary permission
The Padel Studio, Yalding Enterprise Park 6 indoor Permitted 23 Mar 2026, opening “early autumn 2026”
James Villas Holidays, St Leonards Road 2 Permitted 5 Aug 2025
YMCA Sports Centre, Melrose Close 3 outdoor Refused Feb 2026, resubmission due for decision 15 Sep

The Yalding scheme is the largest. It is a new building with six courts, 48 car parking spaces and 10 cycle spaces, approved for The Padel Studio Ltd. A condition allows public use between 6am and 10.30pm. Its own website gives the opening as early autumn and is taking founder memberships at £595 for the first 25 sign-ups (The Padel Studio).

That 6am condition is the awkward comparison for the Boughton Monchelsea case. The council granted a 6am opening at Yalding in March and refused one at Monchelsea Farm in April.

So how many courts does Maidstone need?

Nobody agrees, and the two published positions point opposite ways.

The LTA told Sport England in August that “the current provision in Maidstone does not hit the demand calculation of 12 courts”, which is an argument for building more. Loose Parish Council says existing and pipeline provision will more than meet the target, which is an argument that the rush is nearly over.

On the register’s own numbers, the borough has 13 courts approved. Five of them are open, six are due to open this autumn, and two sit at a company’s own premises. If the YMCA scheme is approved, that becomes 16.

What it means for you

If you want to play in the borough now, Forever Padel at Boughton Monchelsea is the one club on that list whose own website says it is open. Its permission limits activity to 8am to 10pm until the council rules on the new hours. Yalding adds six indoor courts when it opens.

If you live near any of these sites, or use the YMCA pitches:

  • Both live applications can be read in full on the Mid Kent planning register. Search 26/502641/FULL for the YMCA and 26/502722/FULL for Boughton Monchelsea.
  • The publicity periods have closed, but a council can take late representations into account until the decision is issued. The YMCA deadline is 15 September and Boughton Monchelsea’s is 21 September.
  • Both parish councils have asked for their case to go to planning committee rather than be decided by an officer, which would give residents a public hearing.

We track what the council decides on our Maidstone planning applications page, and this site will report the outcome of both.

Sources