New ruling on padel courts: wrongful use of extended preparation procedure?

Please note that this ruling is governed by the old law, which applied until 1 January 2024!

Padel courts are a hot topic in case law these days. However, where it normally deals with noise pollution, the ruling that will be discussed in this blog looks at something completely different.

In this case, in brief, the Division had to assess whether the municipal council of the municipality of Laren had rightly used the extensive preparatory procedure to (re)assess the permit application for the realisation of four padel courts and the installation of a fence.

The applicant had submitted a permit application to build four padel courts and a fence on her plot. This permit application had initially been granted through the regular preparation procedure. An objection was lodged against this decision, after which the college revoked the permit and decided to follow the extensive preparation procedure after all. The applicant appealed against this decision. The court ruled that the extensive procedure had been used unjustly, because although there was a conflict with the zoning plan, that conflict only concerned the glass walls around the padel courts, making it a minor case and the regular procedure should have been followed.

The Division then had to assess whether the court's judgment was correct. It confirmed that the height of the glass walls violated the zoning plan and therefore required an environmental permit to deviate from the zoning plan. Unlike the court, however, the Division ruled that the paving and the enclosure, including glass walls, were functionally connected to each other, as a result of which the minor cases regulation did not apply and the college was right to follow the extensive preparation procedure.

This ruling shows that it does matter which preparatory procedure the administrative body uses to assess a permit application. If the wrong procedure is followed, this may mean that the permit application must be reassessed.

You can read the decision of the Council of State here.