Third generation farmer to bring Dorset’s first rural padel club

If approved, Chalk & Padel would bring three indoor padel courts, a New Zealand inspired specialty café and wellness facilities to an area of the county where no padel courts of any kind currently exist.

The project has been created by Ben Chick, a third generation farmer at Thorneydown Farm, situated on the A354 between Blandford Forum and Salisbury.

The proposed building would sit within the working farm landscape on the edge of Sixpenny Handley village, in the Cranborne Chase National Landscape. Alongside the three indoor courts, plans include Aroha Coffee, a New Zealand inspired specialty café, together with changing rooms and wellness facilities.

“Farming is under huge pressure right now, and diversification has to mean building something that genuinely adds value to the area, not just surviving,” said MrChick.

“This is a working farm, and it always will be. But sitting alongside the farm, we have the chance to create something this part of Dorset has never had.

“I’ve been dealing with chronic fatigue over the past couple of years, and it completely changes how you look at life.

"You realise how important health, community and connection actually are. That’s what this project is built around. We want to bring an incredible sport to an area that currently has nothing, and create a place where people come not just to play, but to connect, recharge and spend proper time together.”

Padel is the fastest growing racket sport in Britain. The Lawn Tennis Association announced on that one million adults and juniors are now playing the sport across 1,825 courts at 551 venues, up from just 15,000 players and 68 courts in 2019.

By the end of 2025, 860,000 people had played padel at least once in the previous twelve months, more than double the 2024 figure of 400,000.

Despite this growth, the area covering central, north and west Dorset currently has no padel courts of any kind.

The county’s existing courts are concentrated in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, more than 25 miles by road from Sixpenny Handley.

Chalk & Padel would be the first padel venue serving north Dorset, including the towns of Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury, Sturminster Newton, and Wimborne together with the village communities of Cranborne Chase and the Blackmore Vale.

The venue is designed to combine sport with hospitality and wellbeing, drawing on New Zealand café culture and rural architecture rather than the standard warehouse style of most padel centres. The intent is a destination people will travel to for a morning, not just for an hour on court.

The validation of the planning application marks the formal start of the planning process with Dorset Council. Subject to planning approval, Chalk & Padel is targeting an opening in late 2026 or early 2027.