Lantzville Resident Presses Council for Dedicated Pickleball Courts — and Raises Noise Red Flags

A community advocacy story out of Lantzville, British Columbia is quietly illustrating the tension at the heart of pickleball's growth: the sport is popular, the demand for facilities is real — and the noise issue follows every new court proposal like a shadow.

Cecil Baldry-White, president of the Lantzville Recreation Association, appeared before council this month asking that $127,000 currently allocated to tennis be redirected to pickleball. His ask included a four-court pickleball facility and one beach volleyball court on a five-acre parcel on Clark Drive — a modest request that reflects genuine community need. Lantzville, unlike neighboring municipalities on Vancouver Island, has no dedicated pickleball or tennis infrastructure. The one court the community did have — a tennis surface repainted for pickleball — was left unmaintained until roots heaved the pavement beyond use.

But Baldry-White's presentation was notable for something beyond the resource request. He explicitly cited noise as a factor, noting that several other jurisdictions have had pickleball courts shut down entirely because of complaints from nearby residents. That's a significant acknowledgment for a project advocate to make: before the courts are even designed, the noise conversation is already part of the room.

This is the pattern playing out across North America. Communities want pickleball. Residents near proposed courts often resist it, not because of the sport itself but because of the particular acoustic profile of paddle-on-ball impact — a sharp, high-frequency crack that travels farther and more intrusively than the sound of a tennis match. The physics of the game create a noise challenge that good facility design can meaningfully address, but that requires deliberate planning from the earliest stages.

For Lantzville, the opportunity exists to build courts that work for players and neighbors alike — if acoustic considerations are part of the design brief, not an afterthought appended after complaints begin.

[Read the full piece](https://nanaimobulletin.com/2026/05/10/lantzville-resident-raises-concerns-over-lack-of-pickleball-facilities/)