Limerick tennis club wins battle with council over €35,000 fee
Club planning to install padel courts at venue on city’s northside
LIMERICK Lawn Tennis Club will not have to pay an extra fee of over €35,000 to council for its new padel court development.
It comes after An Coimisiún Pleanála ruled that the Ennis Road tennis club will not be subject to so-called development levies.
These are fees paid to council on receipt of planning permission, and are used to benefit public infrastructure and facilities which benefit development in the area.
Despite a number of local objections, the club secured planning permission to replace two tennis courts with four padel courts earlier this year.
It comes with padel, which originated in Mexico, growing in popularity on these shores.
But Limerick City and County Council planners ordered the club to pay a total of €35,460 in fees.
The committee of the tennis club challenged this with An Coimisiún Pleanála, arguing that this development would fall under a list of situations where development levies are not payable.
In a letter to the national planning appeals body, club president Diarmaid Mulholland and member Michael Ryan referenced the local authority’s own development contribution scheme.
Among the scenarios where development fees are not payable are where a planning application consists of a development designed to be used for social, educational, recreational or religious purposes, where it is not to be used for profit or gain, and also where it benefits people with disabilities.
"By any objective criteria, we consider that Limerick Lawn Tennis Club are in a number of these exempt categories,” the letter stated.
They also pointed to three padel court applications across Ireland which were exempted from development fees.
And the tennis club added the price of the four padel courts will be in the region of €300,000.
"This considerable sum will have to be raised by the members with hopefully some Government grant aid. We consider this financial contribution of €35,640 conditioned by Limerick City and County Council to be unfair. We trust that An Coimisiún Pleanála will agree with us,” the Lawn Tennis Club letter adds.
The club stated any of its surplus income is reinvested into facilities and programmes, rather than distributed to members.
The new padel courts, it argued, would be used not just by existing members but as part of wider community participation initiatives.
The club highlighted its links with local schools, providing opportunities for children and young people to participate in racket sports. It also pointed to its involvement in wheelchair tennis and disability inclusion programmes.
Inspectors from the national appeals body were persuaded by the argument of the Lawn Tennis Club’s management, and agreed it should not be subject to any extra costs.
Originally, the development attracted a number of objections from local residents concerned about the noise the padel courts would make, the hours of its operation and the overspill of light from the new courts.
But among those who supported the scheme was Labour TD Conor Sheehan.