This exciting development will see Withdean become home to the city’s first Indoor padel centre, featuring four brand new indoor padel courts and an indoor Pickleball court, ready for use in September 2025.
Why Padel and Why Now?
Demand for padel is booming in Brighton & Hove and local residents often struggle to find court space. Our shared ambition with Brighton & Hove City Council is to expand access to high-quality, affordable, all-year-round facilities that enable more people to get active and play the sport they love.
Padel is easy to learn, fun to play and brings people together across all ages and abilities. Its sociable doubles format makes it ideal for families, friends and new players alike. This development supports the city’s vision for:
- A healthier, more active community
- Better use of space to boost participation
- A broader and more inclusive leisure offer for all
What’s Changing?
To create this new indoor padel centre, the current indoor tennis hall at Withdean will close from 1st August 2025. This decision was not taken lightly and follows a detailed review of participation levels, usage data and engagement with key stakeholders.
Indoor tennis use has remained low and seasonal (35% occupancy), while padel is expected to significantly increase court usage, physical activity levels and participation. Our adult and junior tennis coaching programme, provided by our expert tennis coaches, will continue on-site at Withdean.
We fully recognise that this change may disappoint some indoor tennis users. We want to assure you that we are working closely with affected customers and coaches, providing alternative tennis options where possible and along with Brighton and Hove City Council, exploring long-term investment in covered outdoor tennis courts at Withdean. This transformation is part of a wider effort to build a better Brighton & Hove for all and we are excited to be leading that journey together with the council and Game4Padel, who are funding the development with no capital cost to the public.
Darryl Keech
Looking Ahead
We’ll be sharing more updates, open day invites and opportunities to try padel very soon. For more information please email us at withdean.tennis@freedom-leisure.co.uk.
Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you to the next chapter in Withdean’s sporting story.
Freedom Leisure, in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council