Alcohol plans for new Northampton padel venue spark row over popular children's play centre next door
Plans to sell alcohol at a new padel venue in Northampton have sparked a row over its location next to a popular children's play centre.
Marvel Padel Ltd has applied for a premises licence for Unit 8 at Riverside Business Park, in Carousel Way.
It wants permission to sell alcohol between midday and 11pm, seven days a week, with the venue open from 6am until 11pm.
The application will be considered by West Northamptonshire Council's Alcohol and Gambling Licensing Sub-Committee on July 27 after one resident objected during the consultation period.
No objections were received from Northamptonshire Police, environmental health or any other responsible authority.
The objecting resident says the venue's location next to Riverside Hub, a children's indoor play centre, makes it unsuitable for unrestricted alcohol sales.
In their objection, they wrote: "The proposed premises is located immediately adjacent to Riverside Hub, a substantial children's indoor play and family entertainment facility which attracts significant numbers of children, young people and families throughout the week.
"The close proximity of a licensed premises to a children's attraction raises legitimate concerns regarding the protection of children from harm."
The resident also argues that Riverside Retail Park has become a family and leisure destination, adding: "I am particularly concerned that unrestricted alcohol sales in this location would be inconsistent with the family-oriented character of Riverside Retail Park and Riverside Prime."
They also point to Marvel Padel's promotional material, which refers to an "après-padel" social environment and premium beers.
The objection states: "This suggests that alcohol consumption is intended to form a notable part of the customer experience rather than being merely incidental to sporting participation."
The resident says the venue has been promoted as a sports, wellness and therapy facility and argues alcohol should remain secondary to those activities.
If the licence is granted, they have asked councillors to impose a number of conditions, including restricting alcohol sales to customers using the sports facilities, banning takeaway alcohol and drinking outside, introducing a Challenge 25 policy, installing CCTV and ending alcohol sales at 8pm.
Councillors will consider the application against the four licensing objectives: preventing crime and disorder, public safety, preventing public nuisance and protecting children from harm.
Councillors can approve the application, approve it with conditions or refuse it when they meet on July 27.