Hoole LTC

Planning permission was granted on appeal for a £2.5m tennis club development on a greenfield site on the edge of Mickle Trafford village and in the North Cheshire Green Belt, to enable Hoole Lawn Tennis Club to relocate from its no longer fit-for-purpose site in Chester. The Club had been searching for an alternative site for many years and chose the new site in part because it had been allocated in the current and previous development plans for formal and informal sport and recreation purposes. However, Cheshire West and Chester Council had refused permission as it considered the proposal to be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, with no overriding very special circumstances.

While the appeal inspector accepted that the proposal would be inappropriate development, which was by definition harmful to the Green Belt, and there would be some, albeit little, harm to the openness of the Green Belt, she agreed with the case put forward that this harm was outweighed by other considerations, which included a recognised need for additional facilities for sport and recreation within the local area, together with other benefits.

The new tennis club development, which includes a club building and 10 tennis courts, opened in June 2018 and was awarded the 2020 Club of the Year by the Lawn Tennis Association. Its former site in Chester has recently been redeveloped for housing.