Officers say refuse the 7-court padel and tennis centre on the Creswell Drive field, despite 191 letters of support. Councillors decide on Thursday 8 October.

Council planning officers have recommended refusing a new padel, tennis and pickleball centre on a disused playing field in Beckenham. The field sits on the corner of South Eden Park Road and Creswell Drive. The scheme drew 191 letters of support and 95 objections.

Councillors on Plans Sub-Committee No. 1 decide it on Thursday 8 October at 7pm at the Civic Centre on Westmoreland Road (agenda). The application is 26/00412/FPA.

The same meeting will also decide on a council-built children’s home on the Wharton Road car park in Bromley, a large digital advertising screen in Market Square, and car boot sales at Crystal Palace Park.

What the Creswell Drive centre would include

The applicants are Virtus Leisure Management Ltd and Padel Xtra Ltd. The officers’ report describes:

  • 4 tennis courts, enclosed in canvas structures
  • 7 padel courts under canopies
  • 3 pickleball courts
  • a two-storey building of 1,091 square metres, with changing rooms, a gym, Pilates and cycle studios and a café
  • a first floor with two NHS doctor treatment rooms, a private doctor’s room, sports massage and a chiropractor
  • car and cycle parking, a pond and a nature area, and a new entrance from South Eden Park Road

The courts would be covered so they can be used all year. The field is 1.59 hectares. It was part of the old Wellcome and GlaxoSmithKline sports ground for the company’s Beckenham research staff. The report says it has had no organised sport for more than 15 years. The rest of that land became the Langley Court housing.

Why officers say no

The field is Metropolitan Open Land, London’s equivalent of Green Belt. Officers accept the outdoor courts could be acceptable there. But they say the building and the scale of the scheme would cause “significant harm to openness”.

Their reasons, in summary:

  • the indoor gym and health rooms are not “appropriate facilities” on Metropolitan Open Land
  • the applicants have not shown the centre could not go on a site without that protection
  • replacement planting would not make up for the loss of category B trees
  • it would harm the setting of locally listed houses at 109, 113 and 117 South Eden Park Road
  • an addendum published since adds that it has not been shown to be “Air Quality Neutral”

Officers do credit the scheme with real benefits. They list the return of organised sport to the site, community use and health and wellbeing gains. Their conclusion is that these do not “clearly outweigh” the harm, so the “very special circumstances” needed to build on protected open land have not been shown.

The addendum also records the council’s pollution officer objecting on air quality. That officer raised no objection on noise or lighting, subject to conditions.

Who supports it and who objects

The report counts 290 people who responded, with no duplicates:

  • 191 in support
  • 95 objecting
  • 4 neutral

Sport England did not object. It said the scheme meets its playing fields policy. The Environment Agency did not object either; the field is in Flood Zone 2. The Greater London Authority said the outdoor courts were supported in principle, but that the indoor building is “inappropriate development” on Metropolitan Open Land unless very special circumstances are shown.

The application was called in by Councillor Amis, on the basis that it should not be refused by officers under delegated powers. That is why councillors, not officers, make the decision.

Padel has spread fast in the borough. The report lists eight other recent padel applications. They include 4 courts permitted at Club Langley. Applications for 6 courts each at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and at The Warren on Croydon Road are still being considered.

Bar chart of public responses to three applications at Bromley's Plans Sub-Committee No. 1 on 8 October 2026: Creswell Drive sports centre 191 in support and 95 objecting; Wharton Road children's home 5 in support and 125 objecting; Crystal Palace Park car boot sale 116 in support and 1 objecting
Chart by Bromley Online, from the council's committee reports for the 8 October meeting.
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The other decisions on Thursday

A children’s home on the Wharton Road car park, Bromley (26/02370/FPA). Officers say grant. This is the council’s own application. It would replace the 16-space car park at the corner of Wharton Road and St Timothy’s Mews with a part two, part three storey building. It would hold a five-bedroom children’s home and a separate one-bedroom flat for a young person leaving care (officers’ report).

The report says it is part of the council’s plan to house children in care closer to home. It drew 125 objections and 5 letters of support. Most objections are about losing the car park and the parking pressure that would follow, the building’s size, and part of the playground’s planting going to the home’s garden. Some objectors said they support a children’s home in principle but not on this site. The council’s highways officer did not object. Overnight surveys in July, taken while the car park was shut, found about 70% of nearby legal spaces in use.

A digital advertising screen in Market Square, Bromley (26/02795/ADV). Officers say refuse. Ocean Outdoor wants to fix an illuminated LED screen, 3.2 metres wide and 5.2 metres high, to the front of 20 to 25 Market Square, the building Starbucks occupies. It would show moving adverts changing at least every six seconds. The building is locally listed and in the town centre conservation area. It was built by the furniture makers Dunn’s of Bromley on a bombed-out site. Officers say the screen would harm both (officers’ report). It comes to committee because the building is council-owned. Nobody commented on it.

Car boot sales at Crystal Palace Park (25/04864/FPA). Officers say grant for two years. The sales would run on Wednesdays only, 7am to 1pm, on the overflow coach park next to the Italian Terrace. They continue an earlier permission. The application drew 116 letters of support and 1 objection. Officers want a two-year limit so any parking or traffic problems can be judged in practice (officers’ report).

The agenda also has a tree preservation order at White Earth, Snag Lane, Cudham, a certificate of lawfulness in Blackbrook Lane, Bickley, and two household extensions:

  • a garden annex at 166 Widmore Road, Bromley, called in by Councillor Brock; officers say grant
  • roof alterations already built at 7 Sherborne Road, St Mary Cray, called in by Councillor Slator; officers say refuse

Why this kind of agenda is about to change

Those two household cases could not reach a committee after 31 October 2026. New national rules from that date stop planning committees deciding householder, minor commercial and minor residential applications. Councillors will only be able to ask for “Schedule 2” cases to go to committee, and only within three weeks of the application appearing on the weekly list (council report to Development Control Committee).

Full Council considers the changes on Monday 12 October. Our guide to Bromley planning applications explains what the new rules mean for anyone applying or objecting.

What it means for you

  • If you live near Creswell Drive or use the courts: the decision is Thursday evening. The meeting is public. The officers’ recommendation is not the decision: councillors can go against it, but they must give planning reasons if they do.
  • If you park on Wharton Road: if permission is granted, the 16 spaces go. The council’s highways officer asked for conditions that include restrictions on parking permits for the new building.
  • If you want to follow it: the reports, addendum and later the minutes are on the meeting page. Every application can be searched by its reference on the council’s planning register.

We will report the decisions once the council publishes them.

Sources