Sheffield padel Blast Lane: Former warehouse set to be transformed into padel courts

It is the latest in a string of venues across the city to be earmarked for venues the game, which is a racket sport somewhere between tennis and squash.

Sheffield Council has approved planning permission for four double padel courts in what was previously the Clearance Stock Supplies warehouse, at Canal Foundry, on Blast Lane - a site between Sheffield Parkway and Victoria Quays.

Sheffield Council agreed planning permission for the scheme last week, on the condition that parking spaces for both cars and bikes are provided.

A planning document submitted by Padel Elites, as part of their planning application, said they wanted to convert an existing warehouse unit on the edge of Sheffield city centre into a high-quality padel facility, and would involve altering the building inside.

They said the plan would bring an underutilised warehouse back into productive use and support the growing demand for padel sports in the area, and that the site had been on the market for four to five months with no uptake from warehouse industries.

They added: “There is a demonstrable under-provision of padel facilities within Sheffield, with only two operational venues currently serving the city.

“Both are consistently at capacity, particularly during peak evening and weekend periods, leaving many players unable to secure bookings.”

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It is the latest in a line of recent planning applications for padel courts, since courts were opened at Hillsborough Park last year.

Padel uses the same scoring conventions a tennis but is played on courts that are slightly smaller, as are the balls that are used.

The courts are enclosed and, like in squash, players can bounce the ball off the walls.