New Tecumseth weighs pickleball court sites amid noise concerns

New Tecumseth’s pickleball expansion hit the same wall other towns have learned the hard way: noise. After weighing six possible sites for two outdoor courts in Tottenham, council voted 5-4 to place them at the Tottenham Community and Fitness Centre and passed over Keogh Park, where the siting was judged less workable once sound, parking and neighbor impacts were added into the mix.

The choice came with a $290,000 proposal attached, but the real debate was about where the town could add courts without setting off the next neighborhood fight. Staff graded the sites on proximity to residential properties, street parking, parking on site and permanent washrooms, a reminder that court planning now reaches well beyond a painted playing surface.

Keogh Park had ranked highest in the selection criteria, but the report said the Tottenham Community and Fitness Centre became the better fit because it met recommended setback guidelines without requiring extra sound mitigation beyond the approved budget. That matters in a sport where a busy court can produce 600 to 900 ball impacts an hour, or as many as 10,800 in a day. The sharp pops have been measured at 70 to 85 dBA at 39 metres, roughly the kind of noise that turns a casual pickup session into a front-yard complaint.

The town is not treating this as a one-off decision. New Tecumseth’s Parks, Trails and Open Space Master Plan, posted in 2023, is supposed to guide park, trail and open-space development for the next 15 years. An earlier Parks, Recreation & Culture Master Plan dates to January 2018. Together, those plans point toward five additional pickleball courts by 2030, based on a provision rate of one court per 5,000 residents.

That future growth will likely hinge on whether the town can keep the sound in check. The report pointed to mitigation options such as about 3.0-metre-high walls built with sound-absorbing glass or wire mesh and noise-attenuating panels. Those fixes are not cheap, and Niagara-on-the-Lake has already shown how expensive the problem can become after the fact. Its Virgil Sports Park courts, converted from underused tennis courts in 2019, reopened in June 2024 after noise-reduction measures were added, then were ordered closed again for the 2026 outdoor season. In April 2026, the town approved a $13,748.17 reimbursement to the local pickleball club for its share of the acoustic-panel costs.

For Tottenham players, the takeaway is blunt: the next courts are coming only if the town can find land that works for both the game and the people living next door. The battle over site selection is now part of the growth story itself.