Newcastle city centre to get first padel courts near central station

PROJECT PADEL OPENED ITS FIRST COURTS IN BENTON LAST YEAR AND HAS NOW BEEN GRANTED APPROVAL FOR A NEW OUTDOOR FACILITY IN THE STEPHENSON QUARTER AREA BEHIND CENTRAL STATION 19:05, 02 Jun

2025 Newcastle city centre is set to get its first padel courts. The booming racquet sport, which originated in Mexico and is a hybrid of tennis and squash, is experiencing a huge growth in

popularity across Britain. A worldwide padel craze has seen purpose-built courts open already in Benton, Sunderland, Durham, and Hexham. Padel fanatics will soon be getting the chance to

play in Newcastle city centre too, after plans were approved to open facilities close to Central Station. Project Padel, which opened its first venue in Benton last year, has won approval

for three outdoor courts in the Stephenson Quarter development area, on a patch of vacant land between the recently-refurbished Pattern Shop offices on Sutton Street and the North East

Futures University Technical College. Aaron Shepherdson, co-founder and managing director of Project Padel, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he hoped that the new venture

would prove popular with city centre workers and its large student population. He said: “Because of the growth of padel as a sport, people want more options to play and to play outside.

There are guys in Manchester and beyond who have outdoor sites as well and we see it as a good offering, a good community project for us. "We are young lads from Newcastle and we want

to bring our brand to the centre of town, it is a really important thing from a community angle. For the students or other people who don’t want to travel out to Benton, or down to

Sunderland or Durham, this will be more accessible for them and that is a huge demographic. This is a pretty important thing for us and it is really exciting, hopefully it will be a cracking

site for everyone. " Article continues below Newcastle City Council has granted a temporary planning permission for the development lasting three years, until May 2028. It said that

the courts were “not considered to be a suitable option as a permanent way forward with this site”, but were acceptable as a temporary installation. An opening date for the site is yet to be

confirmed. The facilities would be split over two levels and would also feature a reception area, changing rooms, and toilets. Documents lodged with the council state that the floodlit

courts will open from 7am to 10pm Monday to Sunday and provide a “premium outdoor sports facility to a city centre location”. They add: “Furthermore, the development will deliver an array of

public benefits including improved leisure facilities in Newcastle City Centre, leading to a positive impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of participants. The proposals will also

bring a portion of the Stephenson Quarter into active use. The development will complement existing surrounding properties and remain compatible with future development proposals within the

Stephenson Quarter, including the development of Plot 1 for office space.”