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By Andrew Brown
Padel continues to rise in popularity. Formby already has two establishments offering it, will this new location be the third?
A Formby farm owner has submitted plans to transform part of an agricultural barn into an indoor padel court, complete with a nine-space car park, vending machines and coded access.
The plans for Brook Farm on Moss Side, which is currently also home to a dog exercise field and raw dog food shop would see part of an existing agricultural building converted into a leisure facility containing a full doubles padel court.
The remainder of the barn would continue to be used as an agricultural store.
Although the planning application doesn't set out exactly how the new facility would operate, the plans give some clues.
A coded access door is shown at the entrance to the padel court, alongside a coffee machine and vending machine, potentially allowing players to access the facility without somebody permanently staffing a reception.
Two toilets and a lobby are also included in the plans, together with cycle parking.
The application proposes opening hours, from 6am until 9pm Monday to Saturday, and 6am until 8pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Nine new car parking spaces and two cycle spaces would be provided, while the application says no new or altered access from the public highway is proposed.
Padel has exploded in popularity in Britain over the past few years, with the number of players growing from around 15,000 in 2019 to one million in 2026, according to the LTA. Britain now has around 1,825 padel courts across more than 550 venues.
The sport is usually played by four people on a court measuring 20 metres by 10 metres. Unlike tennis, the court is enclosed and players can use the surrounding glass or walls to return the ball, giving the game some similarities to squash.
Despite its recent surge in popularity, padel is more than half a century old.
The game is generally credited to Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera, who created the first padel court at his home in Acapulco in 1969. With insufficient space for a full-size tennis court, Corcuera built a smaller court surrounded by walls, inadvertently creating one of the defining features of the new sport.
The game subsequently spread to Spain and Argentina before developing into the international sport played today.
Formby Village Padel Club, on Rosemary Lane, opened its first court in July 2024 and subsequently gained permission for another two courts following the popularity of the sport locally. The club currently operates a waiting list for membership.
Formby Lawn Tennis & Padel Club, on Gores Lane, also has a doubles padel court, with permission having subsequently been secured for a singles court.
And just down the road, work began this summer on an altogether more unusual venue at Liverpool's Princes Dock, which is set to become Great Britain's first floating padel destination, with courts constructed on floating platforms in the dock.
The Brook Farm proposal would offer something different again: an indoor court inside a working farm building, with early-morning and evening opening hours and what appears from the plans to be a potentially self-service model.
The application is currently awaiting a decision from Sefton Council.
Plans for a new M&S Foodhall, Lidl, business park and Costa on Formby Bypass are set to go before Sefton Council planners next week.
A colourful Formby shopfront has sparked a planning battle lasting more than a year. Now, a final decision has been made.
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