Residents have fought off plans to build a city's first padel courts - claiming the noise of the rackets was 'intolerable' and sounded like gunfire.<br /><br />The Lansdown Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club in Bath had hoped to turn one of its 11 tennis courts into two padel courts and a mini tennis court. <br /><br />Padel is a racket sport of Mexican origin usually played in doubles on an enclosed court and has enjoyed a meteroic rise - becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the world. <br /><br />But a planning application to bring the sport to Bath for the first time was turned down - after dozens of objections from neighbours.<br /><br />One of the major concerns was around the noise level the rackets generate when the ball is struck - described as 'like gunfire.'<br /><br />And one resident John Baxter, who moved the area in 2006, said padel boarding would have been a nightamare for locals.<br /><br />He said: "There will be disruption and negative impact upon health outlook privacy noise and right to a peaceful life."<br /><br />"When we moved here in 2006 the application site was a quiet croquet lawn.”<br /><br />John Morgan, a Lansdown Club member, said: "What you actually hear is gunfire-like noise, perhaps sixteen times background noise", before banging on the table to demonstrate. <br /><br />He added: "Noise is the Achilles heel of padel."<br /><br />Representing the neighbours at the meeting, Tessa Hampton, of Context Planning, said: “Padel tennis generates a much greater level of noise and disturbance than tennis due to the hard bats and pressurised balls which constantly rebound against the court walls.”<br /><br />Currently fans of the sport having to travel to Bristol to play it - but locals said they were relieved after the application was refused by Bath and North East Somerset Council last week.<br /><br />A 59-year old man, who lives nearby and is a member of the tennis club, said he was relieved the padel plans had been blocked. <br /><br />He said: “Having experience of living close by to padel courts in Spain, I am in agreement with the refusal of this. <br /><br />“The noise pollution would have been intolerable.”<br /><br />The neighbour said the echo of bat on ball against the transparent walls causes an unbearable din.<br /><br />He said: “There is an enormous difference in the noise. <br /><br />“It is a great game but I don’t want to be an involuntary spectator.”<br /><br />A neighbour in his 80s, who also withheld his name, said the community had rallied against the proposal with good reason. <br /><br />He said: “It is not being obstructive for the sake of being obstructive.<br /><br />“You have got to think about the impact on your neighbours. <br /><br />“I am very happy that it has been rejected. <br /><br />“It was just going to be very noisy and there would be more traffic - it was all negative. <br /><br />“We have got a lady next door who has dementia, it would have kept her awake.”<br /><br />He added that other sports at the club could become a victim of padel’s success.<br /><br />He said: “They would want more courts because of the success of it. <br /><br />“It could take the place of the croquet lawns.
