Farmer Tania looking save family farm's future with new Penshaw Padel court development
Tania’s family have farmed the land around Offerton for over 100 years
Fifth generation female Sunderland farmer, Tania Coxon, said a proposed new padel court development is “vital to secure the future of our farm” which has been farmed by her family since 1925.
The proposed £1m Penshaw Padel development on Offerton Grange Farm, for which a planning application has been submitted to Sunderland City Council, would include include six double padel courts, a café, mezzanine floor, seating area and parking.
Tania, 29, said the farm needs to diversify into other areas to survive due to the changing financial parameters of the agricultural industry.
The Royal Agricultural University graduate, who has been running the farm for the last two years, said: “Due to landowners selling off their land and the loss of tenants, our once 2,000 acre farm has halved in size over the last few years.
“We are an agricultural farm with 80% of our production from wheat. Whilst the cost of grain has remained roughly the same for decades, our costs have risen massively. Coupled with changes in Government policy, this just isn’t sustainable.
“We need to diversify, but diversifying into other areas of farming is no longer viable. My family has farmed this land for over 100 years and this development is vital to remain sustainable and to secure the farm’s future.
“Without this development, we can’t invest in the farm’s future.”
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Tania decided to diversify into a padel court facility after developing her own passion for the sport, which she now hopes to share with the local community.
She said: “I started playing padel last year to keep myself fit during the hockey close season and I just fell in love with the sport. However, trying to book a padel court is really difficult as it’s grown so much in popularity. In 2019 the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) said there were 15,000 people playing padel which has now grown to over one million.
“There’s a real demand in this area and not enough facilities. Most of the region’s padel courts are in industrial units. This development will offer a much higher roof, recovery and warm up area, and ancillary café upstairs for people to have a drink or enjoy a bite to eat whilst watching games on the courts or enjoying the view looking out to Penshaw Monument. It would provide a whole different experience to what is currently out there.”
The new proposed development would be built on a current hardstanding area used to store farm vehicles. The purpose built building would incorporate a grain store design to remain in keeping with the traditional appearance of the farm.
Tania feels the facility will provide massive benefits for the local area.
She said: “I’ve been in consultation with local coaches, schools and Active Sunderland, and this is a facility which could be used by all these groups. Padel is accessible to all ages and it’s one of the few sports where you can have children and young people on the same court as the older generation.
“As well as helping to improve people’s health, I want this development to provide a facility to really bring the community together.”
As well as employing up to 12 full and part-time staff, Tania said construction of the new facility would be contracted to local businesses with produce sold in the café also sourced from local farms.
The planning application is currently being scrutinised by the City Council’s Planning Department. You can have your say, both in favour and against the development, via the Council’s planning portal website.