Local residents Sleen against the arrival of the padel court: ‘are always informed afterwards’

Padel is a sport that has recently become very popular in the Netherlands. It’s kind of a combination of tennis and squash. The sport is played on a field surrounded by glass walls. During the game, the ball regularly hits one of the walls, producing a characteristic ‘tock’ sound.

Alexander Zaal from Sleen is one of the local residents who does not like the arrival of a padel court. “Padel is a sport that involves quite a lot of noise and we find that difficult. We live in a quiet neighborhood, so we are concerned about extra noise that the padel court will bring.”

Noise is not the only thing that will cause nuisance, thinks Zaal. “In the evening it will probably also provide extra light. We are also concerned about that. We are afraid that this will disturb flora and fauna.”

According to Zaal, it is mainly communication that goes wrong. He feels, along with the other local residents, a bit passed over. The residents read the news on the website of the tennis association, after which they contacted the association themselves. An information evening was organized on this. “We gave advice at the information evening, with which the association would start working. We have not heard anything more about it,” says Zaal.

He says that all local residents received an email from the association just before Christmas, stating that they are working on the permit application. “We are always informed afterwards and nothing is done with our advice. That is why we have taken action.”

In response to the story of the local residents, spokesman for the tennis club Klaas Schepers says that he believes that the conversations they are having are constructive.

“We have different insights and the expectations in the talks are different. The opponents of the padel court have considerable objections, but we also think they are well-founded. We did start applying for a permit from the municipality some time after the information meeting,” continues Schepers. “We have sent an e-mail to the local residents concerned. They were disappointed that a permit application was being started.”

Schepers thinks that the tennis association has done well to send an email to all residents about the start of the permit application. “If we had secretly submitted the permit application, then we would have been in error.”

Zaal finds the talks less constructive. “The minutes of the information evening state that certain suggestions from the local residents would be investigated, but we never heard anything about that. Instead, we now only see a permit application going to the municipality. That is not what we mean by constructive .”

Alexander Zaal and Klaas Schepers do agree that something needs to change in the regulations regarding padel. The rules that are now applied to padel are outdated in their eyes.

“That is the biggest problem we encounter in this matter,” says Schepers. “The standards that are used are originally intended for how much noise a tennis court can make. These standards were drawn up when the sport of padel did not even exist. If we do the noise measurements with the current rules, we comply with the standards and we are therefore not wrong.”

Zaal agrees that rules for padel do not actually exist. “Padel is similar to tennis, but it is really a different sport. Different rackets are used and there are glass walls around the field. When the ball hits this, it gives a very distinctive sound and the walls reflect the sound one more time.”

Zaal would prefer the tennis association to find a different location for the padel courts. “You have a beautiful sports hall near here. It is only partly used. Padel courts could be built there.”

Schepers says that the association has really thought about a different location for the jobs. “We want to be good neighbours, so we keep thinking about the location. Nevertheless, this is still the first choice. We can now continue to radiate the image of one association. That is not only good for the image, but also for the wallet , because the padel players can use the same canteen and changing cabins as the tennis players.”

Despite his problem with the location, Zaal does have a warm heart for the sport. “We are in quiet Drenten in Sleen, so we try to keep the discussion about the location constructive. If a different location is finally chosen, my son has already challenged me to play a game against him.”