Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bill Hartnett and Juma Begum with Councillors Juliette Barker Smith and Monica Stringfellow in attendance as substitutes respectively.

Apologies were also received from Councillor William Boyd.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 15^th January 2026 were presented to Members.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 15^th January 2026 were approved as a true and accurate record and were signed by the Chair.

To note Update Reports (if any) for the Planning Applications to be considered at the meeting (circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting)

There were no Update Reports.

This application was reported to the Planning Committee because the application site fell within the ownership of Redditch Borough Council. As such the application fell outside the Scheme of Delegation to Officers.

Officers presented the report and in doing so, drew Members’ attention to the presentation slides on pages 5 to 21 of the Site Plans and Presentations pack.

The application was for the Redditch Cricket Hockey and Rugby Club, Bromsgrove Road, Batchley, B97 4SP and sought permission for the instillation of 3 Padel Tennis Courts with ancillary accommodation.

The location and access were identified on pages 6 to 8 of the Site Plans and Presentations pack. Officers identified the orientation and position of the courts when compared to the nearby residential properties. Three courts were proposed which were situated alongside the existing MUGA facility with the ancillary storage situated at one end of the development near the cricket batting nets.

The padel courts would be of a full standard size, surrounded by 3m clear toughened tempered glass sides with an additional mesh screen at the ends, the courts would not have a ceiling. The entrance to the courts would be along the centre line and they would be available for use from 7:00am till 10:00pm 7 days a week.

Officers detailed that the main objection to the application came from Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) who had assessed the application and determined that there would be an unacceptable impact to the nearby residential properties caused by the noise generated by the courts. Although regard had been given to all the noise which the development would generate, the main area of concern was in relation to the repeated contact of the paddle and ball during play. The distance to the effected properties was detailed as being 61m from the courts at its closest and was shown on page 17 of the Site Plans and Presentations pack.

A number of other concerns were noted by Officers, such as the loss of open space, drainage and light pollution, however, it was determined that they could be mitigated by suitable Conditions should Members disagree with the Officers recommendation and therefore, were not detailed under the reasons for refusal.

At the invitation of the Chair, Mr David Bush, an interested party, and Mr Adam Walker, the Applicant’s Agent, addressed the Committee in support of the application.

After questions to Officers the following was clarified:

• That the application considered all the local residents including those of Pullman close, who were not all full identified in the Site Plans and Presentations pack. However, this would not affect the decision by WRS to object to the application.
• That the balls impacting on the tempered glass sides and shouting during play were considerations, however it was the repeated impact of the ball with the paddle which was considered the greater concern by WRS.
• That adjustments to the operational times were considered as mitigating factors to the objection by WRS, however, it was the conclusion of WRS that a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.