Housing proposed on former Blackheath tennis club site as padel plan dropped

Early plans have been submitted for nine homes on the former Blackheath tennis club site.

Developer Park Lane House are behind the proposal. In 2025 plans for Padel Courts were submitted for the site. Padium were set to operate the venture.

That followed the site being vacant for 15 years. The plans were dropped later in 2025. A former clubhouse on site burnt down some years ago.

The site is located within a Conservation Area and is designated as Metropolitan Open Land.

The applicant highlights a recent decision that could permit this plan:

“Of particular relevance to this application is a recent appeal decision concerning a closely comparable site at Angsamas, Weigall Road, Greenwich SE12 8HF, approximately 3 miles from the Site and also within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

“The Weigall Road site comprises a small, self-contained and privately-owned parcel of land, formerly used as tennis courts, which lies adjacent to the active playing fields of the Crofton Albion Sports & Social Club and is designated as MOL.

“An application for Permission in Principle (Ref: 25/3788/PIP)was submitted for the erection of 4 four-bedroom dwellings. The Council refused the application on 19 December 2025 on a single ground: that the proposal constituted inappropriate development in MOL and that insufficient very special circumstances had been demonstrated.”

After an appeal it was granted permission in principle for 4 dwellings on 18 June 2026.

The recent application for Blackheath tennis courts – which can be seen here – is not a full application but one that “seeks to establish, in principle, the acceptability of the location, land use and amount of development proposed on the site”.

A full planning application would subsequently follow.