Homes could be built on site of three Sheffield tennis courts

Plans to build 14 homes on the site of a Sheffield tennis club are expected to be approved next week, despite objections and concerns about a loss of sports facilities.
Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture: Google.Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture: Google.
Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture: Google.

An application submitted to Sheffield Council is seeking planning permission to build the properties on the site of three existing tennis courts at Abbeydale Tennis Club, Abbeydale Road South, Dore.

Ward councillors, members of Dore Village Society and those living close to the site have all raised concerns about the scheme - including the loss of the "well-used" tennis courts and safety fears over the proposed access to the site and worries of the potential impact on Abbeydale Sports Club.

John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.
John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But the plans are expected to be given the green light at a meeting of Sheffield Council's planning and highways committee on Tuesday, February 6, after the Lawns Tennis Association said there was a "significant supply of tennis facilities within this area of south west Sheffield".

David Crosby, of Dore Village Society, said: "The application is going to affect the tennis club because the road and the development would be built on the existing tennis courts.

"They are the only outdoor tennis courts the club has got so it would be quite a major loss for them."

John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club, said the scheme was a joint application from the tennis club and the sports club.

John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.
John Gledden, managing director of Abbeydale Tennis Club.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: "There is a lot more to this application than initially meets the eye. We have got to get some financial security, that was the initial thinking behind it.

"It affects some of the sports club land and some of the tennis club's. What a lot of people don't realise is that we have already got planning consent on the land and have done for the last eight years so there's not much new from our point of view."

Planning documents submitted as part of the application said the properties would be two-storey and include four three-bedroom homes and 10 five-bedroom homes.

People living near the site also raised concerns about the proximity of the homes to the cricket field at Abbeydale Sports Club but a report from planning officers, recommending approval of the scheme, said a "cricket ball trajectory assessment" had been carried out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The test found that homes would be "suitably protected from cricket balls" by a three-metre high protective net along the southern boundary of the site.

The application will be discussed by members of the planning committee at Sheffield Town Hall on Tuesday, February 6, from 2pm.