Edinburgh sport: Work underway to transform Edinburgh five-a-side pitch into 3 covered padel tennis courts

Work on three new padel courts in Edinburgh is underway.

Last year, Powerleague announced their plans to turn one of its five-a-side football pitches at its Portobello site at 10 Westbank Street into three new padel tennis courts, with associated enclosure, canopy and lighting,

The plans were approved on December 30 by the council’s planning department.

The pitch to be replaced sits at the north-east corner of the football complex and is 0.1 hectares in size.

Pictures now show that work on the site has begun.

Work on the Portobello site is under way. | Shaker T

In the planning documents, Powerleague said: “The proposed development does not result in the loss of sports pitch provision, rather it seeks to replace one type of sports pitch with another.

“The proposed redevelopment of one five-a-side football pitch to create three new padel courts in the Portobello neighbourhood will provide local access to one of the world’s fastest growing sports, and allow us to diversify their operations, as well as contributing to the health and wellbeing of the community.

“This will improve and diversify the provision of sport and recreation facilities on the site.”

Much like the existing football pitches, the proposed padel courts will have a synthetic carpet surface, and they will be enclosed by clear glazed panels with mesh fencing and floodlights above.

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The associated canopy, formed of six sub-canopies over each padel court, will stand separate to the padel court structures, with a maximum height of 8.55m and finished in a translucent opal fabric.

The proposed canopy does not fully enclose each court but is designed to allow use of the courts all year round, and during all weather.

There are currently over 800 padel tennis courts in the UK with a further 500 in construction or in the planning process. Over 400,000 people play the sport in the UK and this number is set to grow

Padel is a racquet sport that uses the same scoring conventions as lawn tennis but is played on courts around a third smaller.

The game is mainly played in the doubles format, with players using solid racquets with no strings. The courts are enclosed and, like in squash, players can bounce the ball off the walls.

Padel balls are smaller than those used in tennis and players serve underarm.