Padel Up has applied for four covered courts and one open court, with floodlights, on King George's Field. Comments close 13 October, decision by 3 November.
The planning application is now in. Padel Up Ltd has applied for four covered padel courts and one open court, a half basketball court, a small building, floodlights and fencing on King George's Field (Ref. 26/01971/FUL). Comments close on Tuesday 13 October and the council's deadline to decide is 3 November. What has been applied for is below; the rest of this page is our August report on the town council's announcement.
Westerham Town Council has announced that padel courts and a half basketball court are to be built on King George’s Field, funded entirely by a private operator, in what it describes as part of the field’s ongoing redevelopment. (Westerham Town Council, Padel Courts for Westerham, 12 August 2026)
The council says it is working in partnership with local operator Padel Up to “transform the under used courts into a vibrant, all-weather community sports hub, providing both padel courts and a half basketball court”. The facility is to run on pay-and-play and membership options, and the council says the courts will be fully accessible.
The council’s chair, Jonathan Lord, said: “We are delighted to be able to improve the amenities at King George’s Field for local people. I would like to thank Padel Up for fully funding the delivery of this facility, at zero cost to the taxpayer.”
The announcement does not state how many courts are planned, when work would start, or how long the operator’s arrangement with the council runs. It directs residents wanting the detail of the proposals to project officer Debbie Marshall at the town council, or to the scheme’s own website at westerhampadel.co.uk, which was not responding when we checked on 14 August and is now live.
The application: five courts, four of them covered
The application went in on 24 July and was validated on 8 September, which is why the register showed nothing when we searched it on 14 August. The applicant is Padel Up Ltd, with Robinson Escott Planning of Orpington as agent, and the site is given as the skatepark end of King George’s Field, Costells Meadow. (Sevenoaks District Council, Ref. 26/01971/FUL)
The proposal, as registered, is for “4 no covered padel courts, 1 no open padel court, 1no half basketball court, ancillary building, floodlighting and security fencing and gates”. The operator’s own campaign site says the courts would replace the disused netball and tennis courts on the fenced tarmac, that the basketball area would be free to use, and that its noise work puts the change at “+0.2 dB(A)”. It also describes the operator as the team behind Sevenoaks Padel at Polhill. Those are the applicant’s claims; the council’s case officer will test the noise and lighting evidence before any decision. (Westerham Padel)
| Stage, 26/01971/FUL | Date |
|---|---|
| Received | Friday 24 July 2026 |
| Validated | Tuesday 8 September 2026 |
| Consultation expiry | Tuesday 13 October 2026 |
| Decision due by | Tuesday 3 November 2026 |
Still awaiting a decision on 28 September. Source: Sevenoaks District Council, application dates for 26/01971/FUL.
Padel is arriving across the district
The Westerham plan is the latest in a run of padel schemes the district council has dealt with since 2024, and the first proposed on a public playing field rather than commercial or private land.
The biggest is at Polhill, near Badgers Mount, where permission was granted for three outdoor courts in 2024 and then for an indoor centre with six courts, a clubhouse, community function rooms and a therapy room. (Ref. 24/01612/FUL; Ref. 24/03279/FUL)
In Sevenoaks itself, Hollybush Tennis Centre on Holmesdale Road was allowed to convert two outdoor tennis courts into three padel courts within the same footprint, with new posts, glass walls, mesh fencing and floodlights. (Ref. 24/00859/FUL)
Not every scheme has got through. An outline application for a single enclosed padel court at The Elms Nursery on Bough Beech Road, Four Elms, was refused this year. (Ref. 26/00142/OUT) Two private courts, at Oak Lodge in Parkfield and West Lodge in Penshurst, were granted. A third Westerham court, part of a replacement house scheme at Toys House on Puddledock Lane, was granted on 17 September. (Ref. 25/03505/FUL)
What it means for residents
If you use King George’s Field, nothing changes yet. The application covers the old courts at the skatepark end rather than new ground on the playing field. Floodlighting, opening hours and noise are the conditions that have attracted attention on padel schemes elsewhere, and they are settled through this application, so the lighting and noise reports among its 60 documents are the ones to read before 13 October.
You can read the plans and comment, for or against, on the district council’s page for 26/01971/FUL. The consultation expiry date, 13 October, is the one to aim for. Our guide to planning applications in Sevenoaks explains how the comment window works and what carries weight.
For questions about the town council’s side of the deal, it has named project officer Debbie Marshall as the contact. Westerham’s other live licensing and planning matter this summer is Greene King’s bid for 1am drinking at the Kings Arms, which went to a hearing in July.
Sources
- Westerham Town Council, Padel Courts for Westerham, 12 August 2026
- Ref. 26/01971/FUL, four covered and one open padel court, King George’s Field, Westerham
- Westerham Padel, the operator’s campaign site
- Sevenoaks District Council planning register (searched 14 August and 28 September 2026)
- Ref. 24/01612/FUL, three outdoor padel courts, Polhill, Badgers Mount
- Ref. 24/03279/FUL, indoor padel centre with six courts, Polhill, Badgers Mount
- Ref. 24/00859/FUL, Hollybush Tennis Centre, Holmesdale Road, Sevenoaks
- Ref. 26/00142/OUT, The Elms Nursery, Four Elms, refused
- Ref. 25/03505/FUL, Toys House, Puddledock Lane, Westerham, granted
Image: King George’s Field TQ4454 089 by Roger W. Haworth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Graphic by Sevenoaks Online.
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