Wimbledon site expansion: AELTC hold all aces

Image: AELTC

A proposed expansion of the Wimbledon tennis site will go ahead after the High Court ruled in favor of an original decision to allow a further 39 courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, on the grounds of the old Wimbledon Park Golf Club in Wimbledon, London (UK).

‘The Guardian’ stated that a judicial review, which started as this year’s 138^th Championship was under way, came after the campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP – a campaign group formed to oppose the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s [AELTC] development plans for the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course) took legal action against the Greater London Authority (GLA – the devolved regional governance body of Greater London) over its decision last year to allow the All England Lawn Tennis Club to almost triple its size.

The old Wimbledon Park Golf Club was an 18-hole golf course located in Wimbledon Park, London (UK). It was founded in 1898 and was known for its challenging parkland course designed with narrow fairways, trees, slopes, bunkers, and a large lake. The club was adjacent to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The golf club ceased operations and the course was reduced to nine holes in 2021 with play ending entirely in January 2023.

The 42,000-capacity Wimbledon Park is the name of an urban park in Wimbledon (London, UK) and also of the suburb South and East of the Park and the Wimbledon Park Tube Station. The Park itself is 27 hectares (67 acres) in area. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is immediately to the West of the Park.

The 42,000-capacity All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, is a private members’ club based at Church Road in the Wimbledon area of London, England (UK). It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass.

‘The Guardian’ further stated that the campaigners asked the judge to quash the original decision made in September 2024 and order it to be sent back to the GLA for reconsideration.

Welcoming the ruling, the All England club’s Chair, Deborah Jevans, said, “It is clear that we have a robust planning permission that enables us to create a permanent home for the Wimbledon qualifying competition as well as delivering 27 acres of beautiful new parkland for the local people, providing public access to land that has been a private golf course for over 100 years.”

Recently, Mr Justice Saini dismissed the challenge saying, “In short, the defendant’s decision on the relevance of deliverability, applying to both the statutory trust and the restrictive covenants, was a planning judgment rationally exercised and having regard to appropriate and relevant factors.”

In response to the above ruling, the campaign group said it had been advised it should challenge the decision and claimed that the GLA had made a “significant” legal error over the special legal status of the park.

Commented Christopher Coombe, Director, SWP, “This judgment would, if it stands, set a worrying precedent for the unwanted development of the protected green belt and public open spaces around London and across the United Kingdom.”

The campaign group said there were other legal protections for the Park that would be “insurmountable” for the property developers including future action in January brought by the All England club that will determine whether the land is for public recreation or protected by a statutory trust.

Added Coombe, “The [All England Club] will surely have noted the considerable public outrage about this development, most recently expressed outside the law courts, and we continue to hope that they could be persuaded to engage constructively with us with a view to achieving a resolution of this four-year-old dispute.”

The residents have argued against the loss of green space as well as 10 years of disruption to the local area. They have also questioned its legality as the proposed expansion, straddling the boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth, would be on the Metropolitan open land which has the same protected status as green belt.

The club’s counterargument is that what was once a private golf course will be converted into land that will offer access to the public, including a 9.3-hectare (23-acre) park, with further green space open through the year outside the Championships. The scaling up of the facilities is necessary for the players and to maintain the prestige of the Grand Slam tournament, it says.

The dispute goes back to 1993 when the All England club bought the golf course land from the Merton Council for £5.2m. It signed a covenant agreeing it would not use the land other than for leisure, recreational purposes, or as open space. The campaign group, which raised £200,000 before the review, believes the proposals have violated that pledge.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the ruling. He said the plans would “cement Wimbledon’s reputation as the greatest tennis competition in the world and London as the sporting capital of the world. This scheme will bring a significant range of economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits to the local area, the wider capital and the economy of the United Kingdom creating new jobs and green spaces.”

The planning permission for the expansion was first granted by the London Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe who said the proposals would deliver benefits that “clearly outweigh the harm”.

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