Westerham Town Council says operator Padel Up will fully fund padel courts and a half basketball court on the town's playing field, at no cost to the taxpayer. No planning application has been lodged yet.

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.

Nothing on the planning register yet

A search of Sevenoaks District Council’s planning register on 14 August returned no application of any kind for padel courts at King George’s Field or Costells Meadow, the address the register uses for the site. The most recent permissions there are for the Costells Meadow car park and a replacement footbridge over the River Darent, both granted in 2018. (Sevenoaks District Council planning register, King Georges Field, Costells Meadow, Westerham)

That matters for anyone with a view on the scheme. An announcement is not a permission, and the formal chance to support or object comes when an application is validated and published, not before. Until then the town council is the only place to send comments.

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.

Table of padel court applications in the Sevenoaks district: Hollybush Tennis Centre Sevenoaks two tennis courts to three padel granted April 2024; Oak Lodge Parkfield private court granted May 2024; Polhill Badgers Mount three outdoor courts granted June 2024; Polhill Badgers Mount six court indoor centre granted December 2024; West Lodge Penshurst private court granted July 2025; The Elms Nursery Four Elms one enclosed court refused January 2026; King George's Field Westerham announced August 2026 with no application lodged
Padel applications on the district council's register since 2024. Graphic by Sevenoaks Online.

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 forms part of a larger scheme at Toys House on Puddledock Lane, which is still awaiting a decision and open for comments. (Ref. 25/03505/FUL)

What it means for residents

If you use King George’s Field, nothing changes yet. The council’s wording points at courts that already exist on the field, describing them as under used, rather than at new ground being taken. Floodlighting, opening hours and noise are the conditions that have attracted attention on padel schemes elsewhere, and those are settled through the planning application rather than the council’s announcement, so they are worth watching for when one appears.

You can check whether an application has been lodged, and comment on it, through the district council’s planning portal, which lets you search by address or postcode to see everything registered near you. Our guide to planning applications in Sevenoaks explains how the comment window works and what carries weight.

For questions on the scheme itself, the town council 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

Image: King George’s Field TQ4454 089 by Roger W. Haworth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Graphic by Sevenoaks Online.