The mayor and aldermen have rejected the permit application from the Coevorder Tennis Club (CTC) for two padel courts. “Extensive research has been conducted in recent months and various interests have been carefully weighed,” the municipality of Coevorden said.
“The concerns of local residents with regard to possible noise pollution and the impact on the quality of life and living enjoyment have been taken into account,” says a spokesperson for the municipality. “That certainly does not mean that we will no longer allow padel courts throughout Coevorden. We already have several and there are also other locations where a padel court could fit.”
The possible arrival of the padel courts in the Oranjewijk of Coevorden already kept people busy earlier this year. In May this year, the city council adopted a motion by BBC2014, PvdA and CDA in which they called on the council to reject the permit. The plan had led to a lot of unrest among local residents who feared noise pollution. For B&W, the motion also counted towards the rejection of the application.
Local residents support widely held objections that padel courts cause much more noise pollution than normal tennis courts. According to local residents, there is also light pollution and it is not the best development for nature. Birds fly to their death against the glass walls.
Resident Mary van der Weide is happy with the municipality’s conclusion, but is still cautious. “We’re not there yet,” she says. “Fortunately, the municipality supports us, but I expect the tennis club to file an objection. That is also their right. We are confident that the municipality has done well in this process. We live here in a quiet neighborhood, a nature reserve with kingfishers, a rookery and swan couples, we don’t want to lose that.”
Van der Weide lives next to the sports complex, which includes a tennis court, football club and korfball club. Even now, she and her neighbors already have to deal with noise from sports clubs. “That was already the case when we came to live here, so we shouldn’t have done that. We accept that, but you have to draw a line. You don’t put a cross track in a residential area,” she says.
Van der Weide hopes that the municipality will come up with a policy that makes it clear where a padel court is and where not allowed. “Also for other villages where this happens, such as in Sleen. There are currently no clear rules and that causes a lot of stress for all parties. No one now knows where they stand,” Van der Weide concludes.