The SOSN8 campaign started to oppose proposals from the Hornsey Cricket Club to build a substantial sports hall on metropolitain open land (MOL). Whilst that planning application has not so far appeared, there are now two other proposals with the council for consideration. We consider that there are issues in these proposals that will impact on this important MOL.

Padel Courts

Many local residents will have noticed the two padel courts which have appeared rather suddenly on the Hornsey Club’s tennis courts at the end of Tivoli Road in July. (We note this repurposing of the tennis courts and the summary eviction of the tennis academy which resulted has had a significant impact in the loss of amenity for the local community, in particular for the many children who had expected to take part in the academy’s school holiday activities.)

Haringey Council have ruled that the installation constitutes development, and thus requires planning permission. An application to install four padel courts (occupying the whole of the tennis courts) on a temporary basis until the end of October this year has been submitted by the Club and is open for comments until 9th October. It can be found under reference HGY/2024/2070 on the Haringey Council planning website.

The application is intended to legitimise the temporary installation which was done without seeking the necessary planning permission. Whilst the permission applied for is temporary and will end on 31 October the operator (Padel Pod) is clear that they would like to have a long-term presence on the site. They consider the current application is ‘testing the water’ for a subsequent application for permanent courts and a club, as well as lighting to enable play later in the day during the winter months.

Whilst the current level of use has had a limited impact on traffic levels and parking issues in our neighbourhood, we might expect that over time double the number of courts and the operator’s efforts to increase usage would lead to more difficulties. If fully used the four courts proposed could result in up to 192 people a day (plus spectators) visiting the site. For those of us who are close by there are also concerns about noise and light pollution whilst the wider community will see the impact of increased traffic and pressure on parking in local streets.

You can comment on this application here >> It is open for further contributions until 9th October.

Sauna Proposal

At the same time the Club has also submitted proposals for the development of a ‘temporary and demountable sauna’ for a three-year period. This can be found under reference HGY/2024/2521 on the Haringey Council planning website and is also open for comment until 9th October. Whilst there is no information given about anticipated user numbers it is proposed that the facility would be open from 8am to 9pm seven days a week.

Although the current proposals are for temporary permission only there are some important principles at stake concerning the use of the site and its designation as Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) which is expected to receive the highest level of protection from development. The sauna proposals in particular seem to pay no heed to these constraints. These are not essential ancillary facilities and do not maintain the openness of MOL. More information on MOL issues here >>

Via the Haringey planning portal you can add your comments on these proposals >> It is open for further contributions until 9th October.

Future Impact

Many of you will be already aware of the cricket club’s longstanding plans for a sports hall development on the site. It is unclear whether the padel courts and sauna supersede these or whether – as seems more likely – they are a short-term money earner for the club whilst they develop their more ambitious proposals.

If these applications for temporary permission succeed they may well be cited as evidence that the Metropolitan Open Land protection of the site is no longer pertinent, encouraging proposals for permanent development and the loss of the open land concerned.

 

 

Image of proposed sauna installation from planning application