Bolton Arena Padel Court Plans Welcomed by Councillors | Horwich 2026

Key Points

• Formal Application Submitted: A planning application has been formally submitted to Bolton Council by applicant Simon Sharrock to construct three new padel courts on land adjacent to Bolton Arena in Horwich.
• Comprehensive Infrastructure Included: The proposed sports development scheme encompasses the installation of floodlights, protective weather canopies, boundary treatments, and associated landscaping works.
• Meeting Growing Demand: Planning documentation highlights that Bolton Arena identified a surging local demand for padel—widely recognised as one of the world's fastest-growing sports—to enhance its current health and fitness portfolio.
• Broad Facility Integration: The new padel courts are designed to sit alongside Bolton Arena's existing sports offerings, which currently include traditional racquet sports, fully equipped gym facilities, group fitness classes, football pitches, and athletics tracks.
• Enthusiastic Local Support: Horwich councillors have warmly received the proposals, praising the prospective private investment into the town's athletic infrastructure.
• Elected Representatives' Statements: Horwich Town Councillor Steven Chadwick stated, "It's nice to actually see increased sporting facilities in Horwich. I welcome this." Meanwhile, Councillor Wright echoed the positive sentiment, adding, "The more facilities, the better."
• Sporting Accessibility: Padel combines core elements of tennis and squash, is typically played in doubles within an enclosed glass and mesh court, and offers high accessibility and well-being benefits for players of all ages and abilities.
• Pending Statutory Approval: The planning application remains subject to formal evaluation and determination by Bolton Council as part of the local authority's statutory planning process.

Bolton (Bolton Today) July 23, 2026 - Plans for the construction of three state-of-the-art padel courts on land directly adjacent to Bolton Arena have been formally submitted to local planning authorities, receiving a warm and supportive reception from Horwich councillors. As reported by Maddie Avery, Trainee Reporter for The Bolton News, the comprehensive planning application—submitted on behalf of applicant Simon Sharrock—aims to introduce one of the world’s fastest-growing racquet sports to the popular Middlebrook sports complex, featuring covered courts, floodlighting, dedicated boundary enclosures, and tailored surrounding landscaping.

According to reporting by Maddie Avery of The Bolton News, the proposal stems from strategic assessments conducted by Bolton Arena, which identified an accelerating community demand for padel facilities. If approved by Bolton Council, the three enclosed courts will complement the facility’s broad existing infrastructure, which already hosts indoor tennis, a fitness suite, group exercise studios, outdoor football pitches, and an athletics facility. Elected members in Horwich have lined up to voice their strong support for the development, emphasizing the vital role that enhanced community sport provision plays in fostering local health, physical activity, and social well-being.

What Are The Detailed Planning Proposals Submitted For Bolton Arena?

The formal submission entered into the Bolton Council planning portal outlines a complete design and infrastructure layout aimed at bringing year-round padel play to Horwich. As detailed in the coverage published by Maddie Avery of The Bolton News, the applicant, Simon Sharrock, is seeking full planning permission to utilize land situated alongside the primary Bolton Arena building.

The scope of the proposed development reaches beyond the mere laying of court surfaces. To ensure maximum operational utility throughout the year and across varying daylight conditions, the planning application incorporates:

1. Three Enclosed Padel Courts: Purpose-built play zones framed by toughened glass walls and steel mesh, matching international standard dimensions for doubles play.
2. Weather Canopies: Covered overhead structures designed to shield players from rain and direct elements, allowing uninterrupted play regardless of typical North West weather patterns.
3. Specialized Floodlighting System: Downward-directed, energy-efficient lighting arrays intended to enable evening matches while mitigating light spill into surrounding residential or natural environments.
4. Boundary Treatments & Security: Perimeter fencing and clear access paths seamlessly linking the padel zone to the main arena building and parking areas.
5. Landscaping Works: Soft landscaping and environmental buffer planting to integrate the court structures harmoniously into the surrounding Middlebrook environment.

As reported by Maddie Avery in The Bolton News, planning documents state that Bolton Arena identified an increasing demand for padel, which continues to gain immense popularity across Europe and the UK. The document notes that the strategy is designed

"to sit alongside its existing facilities for other racquet sports, gym, fitness classes, football, and athletics in order to support physical activity, health and well-being within the local community."

How Have Local Horwich Councillors Reacted To The News?

Community leaders and elected representatives in Horwich have expressed clear enthusiasm for the proposed sporting development. In recent years, local councillors have consistently advocated for increased recreational investment across Horwich and the wider Bolton area, making this private-sector proposal a welcome addition to the agenda.

As reported by Maddie Avery of The Bolton News, Councillor Steven Chadwick gave an enthusiastic endorsement of the development proposal during discussions on local amenities. Welcoming the scheme, Councillor Steven Chadwick stated:

"It's nice to actually see increased sporting facilities in Horwich. I welcome this."

Echoing Councillor Chadwick's positive reaction, Councillor Wright also welcomed the prospect of expanding sports availability within the township. As recorded by Maddie Avery for The Bolton News, Councillor Wright stressed the cumulative community benefit of continuous leisure development, noting:

"The more facilities, the better."

Local representatives highlighted that facilities like Bolton Arena serve not only as competitive venues but also as vital community hubs. The addition of padel is viewed by local leaders as an opportunity to attract new demographics to active recreation, particularly teenagers, working adults, and older residents seeking lower-impact racquet sports.

What Is Padel And Why Is It Growing So Rapidly Across The UK?

Padel is an enclosed racquet sport that seamlessly blends core mechanics from traditional lawn tennis and squash. Originating in Mexico in the late 1960s before taking firm root across Hispanic America and Spain, the sport has experienced an extraordinary explosion of popularity across Great Britain and Northern Europe over the past decade.

Key Operational Characteristics Of Padel

• Court Dimensions: Played on an enclosed court roughly one-third the size of a standard lawn tennis court (10 metres wide by 20 metres long), divided by a central net.
• Wall Utilization: The court is surrounded by glass walls and metallic mesh. Similar to squash, players can play the ball off the walls after it has bounced once on the court surface, creating longer and more dynamic rallies.
• Equipment: Players use solid, stringless perforated paddles made from composite carbon fibre or fibreglass, along with low-pressurised tennis balls that provide a slightly lower rebound.
• Game Format: Padel is almost exclusively played as a doubles game, fostering a strong social aspect that contrasts with the single-player focus of many other athletic pastimes.

As noted in the planning documents cited by Maddie Avery of The Bolton News, the sport's rapid growth stems largely from its remarkably low barrier to entry. Unlike traditional tennis, which requires years of technical training to master serving and stroke control, padel relies on underhand serves and localized wall tactics. This allows complete beginners to enjoy multi-shot rallies within their very first hour on court. Furthermore, because the court is compact and court movement emphasizes positioning over extreme sprinting, padel offers a lower physical strain on joints, making it highly accessible across generations.

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How Will The New Courts Fit Into Bolton Arena's Broader Community Offer?

Bolton Arena, managed by the Middlebrook Leisure Trust, stands as one of the premier sporting complexes in the North West of England. Established originally as a key training and competition facility for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the complex has consistently evolved to meet modern leisure trends.

Currently, Bolton Arena features:

• A high-performance indoor and outdoor tennis centre.
• A fully furnished fitness suite and strength training zone.
• Multi-purpose group exercise studios hosting daily fitness classes.
• Full-sized 3G artificial grass pitches for regional football leagues.
• A 400-metre outdoor athletics track serving local running clubs and school events.

By adding three dedicated padel courts, the venue seeks to establish a comprehensive racquet sports hub where traditional tennis, badminton, and padel exist side-by-side. Planning documents highlighted by Maddie Avery in The Bolton News reiterate that introducing padel directly reinforces Bolton Arena's core charitable mandate: promoting health, fitness, and overall well-being across the local demographic spectrum.

What Are The Next Steps In The Bolton Council Planning Approval Process?

Following the formal submission by Simon Sharrock, the planning application is now progressing through the statutory validation and public consultation phases managed by Bolton Council’s planning department.

The Standard Statutory Timeline For Local Planning Applications

1. Validation & Public Notification: Planning officers review all submitted drawings, environmental reports, and access plans before listing the application on the public planning register.
2. Neighbour & Stakeholder Consultation: Statutory consultees—including highways authorities, environmental health officers, and the Horwich Town Council—alongside nearby residents, are given a formal window to submit observations, queries, or objections.
3. Officer Assessment: A designated planning officer evaluates the scheme against the Bolton Local Plan, assessing land usage, highway safety, noise management, lighting glare, and design quality.
4. Committee Decision or Delegated Authority: Depending on the volume of public comments or referral requests from councillors, the application will either be determined under delegated officer powers or brought before the Bolton Council Planning Committee for a public vote.

Should planning permission be granted later this year, construction work on the three padel courts, canopies, and lighting infrastructure could commence shortly thereafter, potentially opening the facility to the public within months.