Paul MoseleyBBC political reporter, Norfolk

Getty Images We can see several padel courts at an indoors sports facilty. The courts are blue with white lines marked on them - and are surrounded by black, metal meshed fences. People are playing on them.Getty Images

Padel is a racket sport that combines elements of tennis and squash

Plans for a new padel court have been approved despite warnings from neighbours that noise from it could affect their mental health.

The East Anglia Tennis and Squash Club wanted to change the use of one of its existing courts, so the fast-growing racquet sport can be played on it.

People living nearby opposed the plan on the basis that the game is louder than tennis – but it was given the go-ahead by Norwich city councillors.

Chris Evans, from the club, told them that adding to its facilities was necessary to secure “the future of a valued community facility”.

A mixture of tennis and squash, padel has been rapidly growing in popularity in the UK.

According to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), there are about 800 padel courts in Britain and more than 400,000 players.

Karen Davis is standing on a street. She's wearing a black leather jacket over a patterned top. She's wearing a red lanyard.

Councillor Karen Davis said noise from the court could be “harmful”

Barbara Goodwin, who lives near the club, told the council’s planning committee that neighbours were concerned because “noise can affect mental health” – and it was louder than other racket sports.

“Padel noise is concentrated in one small area on a court surrounded by glass and metal mesh walls which amplify the sound.”

She was backed by the local independent councillor Karen Davis who said the council’s own officers found noise levels in the evening would be “up to five decibels higher”.

“That is above the accepted threshold for harm under World Health Organisation standards,” she warned.

In a written objection, one person living near the club warned the noise from padel could cause “psychological harm”.

BBC/Hannah Sackville-Bryant We can see two padel courts - our viewpoint is in line with the net. They resemble tennis clay courts and are surrounded by metal meshed fencing. The nearest court is empty, the far one has four players on it.BBC/Hannah Sackville-Bryant

Padel is a racquet sport which combines elements of tennis and squash

The club already has permission to build two padel courts in its car park – which were also opposed over noise concerns.

However, Mr Evans said that after listening to neighbours’ concerns, the plan to convert a tennis court had been drawn up as an alternative.

Defending the club’s new proposal, he told the meeting “padel is the fastest growing racquet sport in the UK” and without new facilities, sport clubs would “risk decline”.

“This is about securing the future of a valued community facility that has served Norwich for almost a century,” he added.

There was some debate in the meeting about the methods used to assess how much noise would be generated by a new court – after council officers said they believed the “proposal would not result in an unacceptable impact”.

But the authority’s development manager David Parkin said other decisions on padel courts had been made based on the same assessment methodology.

“I hear the concerns, but a decision made on the appropriateness – or inappropriateness of that – would not be a sustainable decision.”

Members of the committee voted 6-2 in favour of approving the new court.

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