Nanaimo plans to create eight new pickleball courts in 130-acre Beban Park, where there are no neighbours to be bothered by noise.
The additional Beban Park courts will replace six heavily used courts at Beaufort Park, where neighbours complain about daily noise.
“It has really just been a colossal nightmare,” said David Maloney, whose house is about 10 metres from the court.
Sounds of plastic paddles hitting hard plastic balls, noise from players yelling, heavy traffic in the park’s unpaved parking lot and vehicles parking on Maloney’s driveway prompted him and other residents to complain to city hall.
Frequent vehicle trips to and from the park by players means that “everything is covered in dust,” he said.
“It just gets worse and worse and worse … You cannot imagine what it is like.”
Spending time outdoors working in the garden and enjoying the fresh air sitting on the deck he built used to be one of his greatest pleasures. But that changed after the pickleball courts opened in 2017, he said.
“It was a nightmare from the very beginning.”
Because of the noise, “I can’t even go outside. You can’t have a window open,” said Maloney.
Nanaimo is budgeting $518,000 to build the new courts at Beban Park, with the project expected to be completed by the end of September.
Beaufort Park had been used for tennis before being converted to pickleball courts.
Coun. Ben Geselbracht said the eight pickleball courts at Beban Park represent a good compromise between players and neighbours annoyed by the noise.
Geselbracht won support for a motion earlier this year to close the Beaufort courts for two days through Easter to give residents a break, after a brief closure of the courts during the Christmas season.
He said it’s important for people to have opportunities to play the game, so the city is trying to accommodate the sport in locations that are appropriate.
A spokesperson for the Nanaimo Pickleball Club could not be reached for comment.
City of Nanaimo staff were asked in late May to report back on pickleball plans, costs and timelines. Coun. Janice Perrino, who put forward the motion at council, said pickleball is a “wonderful sport” that promotes good health. “We don’t ever want to discourage people from this kind of fun.”
Watching the game is exciting, said Perrino, who also sympathizes with neighbours.
“We’re not against it. We just need to put it in the right place.”
Neighbourhood beefs about noise from pickleball are not unusual.
Last year, a Chilliwack couple went on a hunger strike to protest the noise from pickleball courts near their house. The strike didn’t last long but they did manage to raise awareness of the issue.
After Oak Bay heard from neighbours annoyed about noise, it relocated pickleball courts into an enclosed lacrosse box and installed sound barriers on fences around the courts.
In a controversial move, the District of North Saanich voted May 7 to shut down four pickleball courts at Wain Park that were built in 2017, after noise complaints.
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