Private security hired to enforce hours at North Saanich pickleball court
The District of North Saanich has hired a private security company to ensure pickleball players only use a local court during the prescribed hours.
The district says the courts in Wain Park have generated noise complaints, prompting the municipality to restrict the hours the courts can be used on certain days of the week.
Now, to address complaints that some players haven't been sticking to the schedule, the district is spending $3,000 on security to ensure the courts shut down on time.
"This is a way to try to give some comfort to local residents that we're doing as much as we can to sort of work with them," said North Saanich Mayor Geoff Orr.
Pickleball's growing popularity has led to noise complaints in cities across B.C., including in Victoria, where officials caused controversy by closing courts in the James Bay neighbourhood.
The sport dates back to the mid-1960s when several vacationing families in Washington state were looking to play new games on an outdoor badminton court.
It combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton and is played over a tennis net with what look like oversized Ping-Pong paddles and a hollow plastic ball.
It's the sound made by the paddles hitting the ball that some neighbours find so grating.
In North Saanich, the Wain Park courts are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Friday and Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
Pickleball players in the district told CTV News they think building a berm around the Wain Park courts could help reduce noise.
Orr said the district is working on long-term plans that could see the courts moved to a different location or to an indoor facility.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to New York from upstate prison
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
'We are declaring our readiness': No decision made yet as Poland declares it's ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Central Alberta queer groups react to request from Red Deer-South to reinstate Jennifer Johnson to UCP caucus
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.