Pickleball plans approved at Festival Park warehouse
Stoke-on-Trent is set to become a pickler’s paradise, after plans to convert an empty Festival Park warehouse into a regional-level sports centre were approved.
Staffordshire-based applicant Pickleball People lodged its proposal for the former Autobrite Direct store on Festival Way in April, which will see the 33,000 sq ft building converted into a “regional centre” for pickleball.
The 33,000 sq ft building has stood empty since January, when liquidators were brought in at the detailing accessories firm.
Nine pickleball courts, changing rooms and a shop will now be built out at the site, along with a viewing area and a cafe, after the plans were consented by city council planners this week.
A sequential site assessment submitted with the proposals had ruled out a number of other sites in Stoke-on-Trent, including the former BT offices at Telecom House on Upper Trinity Street, and a former Go Outdoors on New Hall Street, both in Hanley.
Creative Planning provided designs and planning consultancy for the application.
Documents and plans relating to the proposals can be found on Stoke-on-Trent’s planning portal, using reference: 26/FUL/00395
