\n Hamptworth Golf and Country Club had already constructed a large indoor padel facility and four outdoor courts before submitting a retrospective application.\n<\/p>\n
\n This was rejected by the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) in May over harm to the surrounding landscape.\n<\/p>\n
\n Planning officers said the development caused \u201cdetrimental and harmful\u201d impacts on the character and tranquillity of the protected area, with concerns also raised over noise, lighting, and drainage.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now, club owner Ashkin Mittal is appealing against the decision.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a grounds of appeal document submitted to the National Park Authority, Mr Mittal said the country club is \u201cmore than only a golf course\u201d and has \u201calways offered alternative racquet sports\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that the business \u2013 which he purchased in 2020 \u2013 is \u201ccritically in need of investment\u201d to ensure the \u201cviability\u201d of the site. Financial losses in recent years were also cited.\n<\/p>\n
\n The padel courts in question replaced the previous tennis courts at the north of the main clubhouse building, which were not in use.\n<\/p>\n
\n The conclusion of the appeal said: \u201cThe country club is not exclusive and has historically always consisted of more than only the golf course, offering a range of racket sports and a caf\u00e9 and restaurant, which are all open to the public.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe proposal would allow the country club to modernise to meet changing sports trends.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Mittal argued that the padel courts would not change the use of the site, adding that public view of the development is \u201climited\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Work started on the courts in June 2025, nearly a year before a planning application was submitted.\n<\/p>\n
\n An enforcement notice was issued to the golf club earlier this year.\n<\/p>\n
\n When the plans were eventually put forward, six letters of objection were received, with many raising concerns about flooding and the size of the development.\n<\/p>\n
\n Wiltshire County Council\u2019s flood authority also objected due to \u201cincorrect and insufficient information\u201d about drainage works to the nearby River Blackwater.\n<\/p>\n
\n The NFNPA website states that a start date for the appeal is yet to be determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hamptworth Golf and Country Club had already constructed a large indoor padel facility and four outdoor courts before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-654189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}