✓ Supported by Environmental Health
Sport and leisure
Location
Tom Johnston Road, West Pitkerro Industrial Estate, Dundee
Planning authority
Dundee City Council
Application
26/00525/FULL
Decision
Pending. Environmental Health supported the application subject to conditions, October 2026
Development
Industrial unit to indoor sports and leisure centre with padel and pickleball courts (Class 5 to Class 11)
Standards
NPF4, PAN 1/2011, Sport England guidance, IEMA guidelines, ISO 9613-2:2024, BS 4142:2014+A1:2019
Dundee City Council's pre-application advice asked for a noise impact assessment before any application was considered, after Environmental Health raised concerns about disturbance to nearby homes. The scheme is a large racket-sports centre open from early morning until late evening.
The Scheme
A vacant industrial building within the West Pitkerro Principal Economic Development Area was proposed as an indoor sports and leisure centre: twelve padel courts, two pickleball courts, table tennis, a golf simulator, a café, function space and an Outdoor Amenity Zone, open 06:00–23:00 every day. The nearest homes lie beyond Arbroath Road (A92), about 90 to 104 metres from the courts.
The Noise Issue
Environmental Health asked for background and predicted noise levels at nearby homes, covering every period the centre would operate, with supporting calculations and any attenuation needed. The long opening hours meant the quieter late-evening period had to be tested, and the sharp impacts of padel had to be assessed as well as average levels.
What We Did
01
Ran unattended monitoring on 17–18 July 2026 at a position representative of the nearest homes, and adopted the quietest operating-hour ambient level of 48 dB LAeq,1h.
02
Modelled all fourteen indoor courts (eight double padel, four single padel and two pickleball) in simultaneous use, using 52 dB LAeq,1h and 81 dB LAFmax at 5 metres, with a conservative 15 dB allowance for the warehouse envelope.
03
Compared the results with Sport England's 50 dB LAeq,1h value, calculated the change in the existing ambient level and checked individual impacts against the maximum levels already measured on site.
04
Screened parking, deliveries, function areas and outdoor amenity space, and set fixed-plant rating limits of 37 dB by day and evening and 32 dB at night for the detailed design stage.
The Result
32.2 dB
Highest predicted court noise at a home, LAeq,1h
+0.1 dB
Change in the existing ambient level
40.9 dB
Highest predicted peak event, LAFmax
Planning Outcome
Predicted court noise at the nearest homes was 30.8 to 32.2 dB LAeq,1h, at least 17.8 dB below the Sport England value, and would raise the existing ambient level by about 0.1 dB, an imperceptible change. Peak impacts were more than 14 dB below the maximum levels routinely measured during the survey. The assessment concluded that, with the identified operational controls, the centre would not cause an unacceptable noise effect at the nearest homes. Dundee City Council Environmental Health supported the application subject to conditions in October 2026; the planning decision is pending (26/00525/FULL).
Decision details are taken from the council's public planning register and can be checked by searching the application reference on the council's planning portal. Client and site details are kept confidential.
