An eco-home owner has won a planning battle with his local council over the floodlights on his £80,000 padel court.
Simon Roberts appealed to the government adjudicator after East Suffolk Council said the 20ft-tall lights ‘harmed the landscape’.
The 69-year-old built them last year at his home in Blythburgh, Suffolk, before applying for retrospective permission.
The local authority ruled they would ‘significantly erode the intrinsic landscape qualities of the area’ and rejected the application.
Mr Roberts, fearing he would have to take them down, then appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.
And a ruling has now come down in his favour, stating the lights can remain.
Mr Roberts, a retired university lecturer, said he was relieved by the outcome – adding: ‘The crazy thing is that, if you come here, no one is going to complain about it at all.
‘They would say it is probably good to have a bit of lighting because the road is quite dark.’
Simon Roberts appealed to the government adjudicator after East Suffolk Council said 6m lights on his eco-home’s padel court ‘harmed the landscape’
The 69-year-old had built them last year at his home in Blythburgh, Suffolk
The local authority ruled they would ‘significantly erode the intrinsic landscape qualities of the area’ and rejected the application – but Mr Roberts (left) has now successfully appealed
Mr Roberts and his wife Sarah Bruml, 68, have lived at the property since 1997, when it was initially a weekend escape from working in London.
What started as a small holiday cottage was later transformed between 2020 and 2021 into a sustainable, award-winning eco-cabin after they opted for a full-time move to Suffolk.
The pair decided they wanted to build a padel court on the grounds – despite Mr Roberts barely playing the game himself.
He said: ‘Our children love playing tennis and I thought it is nice to try and persuade them to travel to the east coast to play padel. I hadn’t actually really played it.’
The sport has become increasingly popular in recent years, with celebrity fans including former England football captain Sir David Beckham, the Princess of Wales and tennis legend Novak Djokovic.
The game has been described as a mix of tennis and squash, played with solid bats on courts sometimes enclosed by glass.
Mr Roberts said: ‘The interesting thing about padel is that it has suddenly hit the UK because Beckham and notable people have taken it up.
‘We heard that to hire a court in the city of London is very expensive. It is popular for a very good reason because it is easier than tennis and you can have a good game with not very good people.
Mr Roberts (pictured) and his wife Sarah Bruml, 68, have lived at the Suffolk property since 1997, when it was initially a weekend escape from working in London
The couple decided they wanted to build a padel court on the grounds – despite Mr Roberts barely playing the game himself
‘My wife plays every day and I play twice a week now. It is extraordinary what a very good game you can have at any level.
‘We have friends come and we play for hours – it is fun and social. There aren’t many courts in our part of the country at all.’
East Suffolk Council granted permission for his private padel court last year, with Mr Roberts saying it cost about £80,000 to build.
But the authority restricted the installation of lighting on the court unless a design strategy for biodiversity was approved.
Mr Roberts consulted planners and designed custom lighting to ensure the padel lights did not disturb bats or wildlife who use nearby trees to forage.
He mapped out the perimeter of the light spill and made shades out of plywood which meant the lights fulfilled the authorities’ requirements to protect the local wildlife.
The council still rejected the planning permission, citing that the lights disrupted the surrounding areas’ ‘dark skies, rural tranquillity and undeveloped character’.
Mr Roberts took his case to the Planning Inspector, who ruled the area would preserve its natural landscape despite the lights.
SImon Roberts has described padel as ‘fun and social’, adding: ‘There aren’t many courts in our part of the country at all’
They said: ‘The measured illumination levels are well below 1 lux, and I note that the National Landscape Team raised no objection, confirming that at such levels, the scheme would not give rise to significant light spill into the surrounding area.
‘Photographic evidence demonstrates that the glare shields are effective in containing light spill.
‘The low level of luminance means the lights are not widely experienced, which is further tempered by the intermittent nature of its use.’
Responding to the verdict, Mr Roberts said: ‘I felt like, “Phew, I don’t have to take the lights down”.
‘I had to put up scaffold towers to put on the shades for the lights. It was quite a job and it was quite high up working at 6m up.
‘I was relieved that the lighting is good enough to play. I was worried that if I was compromising the lighting, you would not be able to play.’
The court lights must now operate between 7am and 9.30pm and continue to meet the illumination limits.
East Suffolk Council said: ‘We acknowledge the decision of the Planning Inspector to allow the appeal, and welcome the inclusion of a condition to restrict the hours of illumination to protect the dark night skies of the Coast and Heaths National Landscape.’
