Plans to convert a former potato storage shed into a centre for pickleball – a tennis-like game that also contains elements of badminton – were rejected.
Shropshire-based company Pickleball Central UK submitted proposals to convert former farm buildings into playgrounds at Lower Cound Farm, between Cross Houses and Cressage on the A458.
The company said the facilities it currently rents at Shrewsbury Sports Village are too busy to allow its top players to train for international tournaments. It also plans to smooth and paint the concrete floor of the farm building to create two new pitches for training sessions.
However, the district council refused to approve the project because it feared an increase in traffic.
The proposals included a provisional schedule of meetings which indicated that approximately nine meetings would take place each week, resulting in approximately 35 two-way traffic movements on the site.
“The proposals envisage a general shift to a lighter traffic profile compared to existing agricultural use, with the proposed movements taking place outside of the network’s peak hours,” the planners noted.
They added: “Accordingly, it is considered that the proposed use of the site is possible without compromising the operational capacity and safety of the adjacent motorway network.”
However, Shropshire Council’s roads team disagreed, saying the development could lead to a worsening of what they described as “substandard access” to the site via the existing single-lane access road.
