REVEALED: Laois hotel lodges plans for padel ball courts

Talbot Hotel Carlow Limited, have submitted a planning application in relation to the erection of two padel courts to the west of the existing hotel building in hotel grounds at Graiguecullen, Co. Laois.

Padel ball is a racket sport originally from Mexico and is played usually in a doubles format on an enclosed court with a smaller footprint than a tennis court.

The court enclosures generally consist of a combination of glass and steel mesh walls with lighting for playing at night.

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The sport is rapidly growing in popularity across Ireland and Europe with several courts in place across several counties on the country.

Representatives for the Talbot Hotel company said their client intends to locate the courts to the west of the existing hotel building on the existing raised carpark. It is understood that a number of car parking spaces will be removed to make way for the courts.

The company outlined its intention to still make use of the lower-level parking spaces and have confirmed that the existing carpark to the front of the hotel will remain unchanged.

According to the cover letter of the application, the court referred to as 'Padel court no.2' will be positioned 15 metres away from the N80. Additionally, to mitigate against the possibility of padel balls leaving the court it is proposed to increase the height of the netting on court no.2 to 6 metres high.

Both existing parking areas will provide 110 spaces. The hotel currently provides for 80 bedrooms within the hotel complex as approved under previously approved permissions.

Based on the stated parking standards the 110 spaces provided by the hotel represents 30 spaces over and above the required 80 spaces. Representatives for the hotel said this shows ample parking spaces would still be provided for hotel patrons and so the proposed courts meet development plan requirements.

Laois County Council is due to make a decision on the application by April 15, 2025.