The proposed pickleball courts for Tsawwassen’s Pebble Hill Park won’t be proceeding due to negative public feedback.
Delta council, at their Feb. 7th meeting, nixed the courts from their plans, but they will be going forward with the more well-received proposed tennis courts for the park.
Public consultation from 130 nearby residents, as well as a petition with 83 signatures, showed that 79 per cent had reservations or were opposed to the addition of the pickleball courts.
Concerns about decreased parking availability in the surrounding area, increased traffic in the neighbourhood and most significantly, noise, were raised.
“The sounds associated with the sport of pickleball tend to be much different from tennis. Though both are paddle or racquet sports commonly played on outdoor courts, pickleball features a plastic polymer ball and solid wooden or composite paddle. In comparison, tennis uses a racquet strung with cord and a hollow rubber ball covered with felt,” reads the staff report.
The staff report highlights how the existing pickleball courts at Chalmers Park, Cromie Park, Dennison Park and the North Delta Community Track are located in settings where there are few or no adjacent residential properties, or they are located at a lower elevation, thereby reducing the sound from the sport carrying into adjacent residential properties.
However, the proposed location for the Pebble Hill pickleball courts was elevated from the surrounding parkland and residential properties.
Additionally, respondents said that reduced noise from playing tennis, as well as the lower number of courts were reasons why they didn’t oppose both types of courts
Though $195,000 was originally allotted from the 2022 Financial Plan to fund four single-purpose tennis courts and nine single-purpose pickleball courts at Pebble Hill Park, only approximately $50,000 of that will be used towards the tennis courts.
A remainder of $145,000 in available project funding is left over, but it will be redirected to advance future pickleball projects in South Delta, stressed Mayor George Harvie.
“We’re very dedicated to work toward providing additional courts for the pickleball community, but we also need to ensure that we’re ensuring the protection of livability in surrounding areas,” said Harvie.
