The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), organizers of the Wimbledon grand slam tennis tournament in London, has claimed victory in its plans to expand its grounds after the UK’s High Court dismissed a campaign group’s legal challenge against the decision to approve the £200 million ($270 million) project.
The legal action centres around the AELTC’s proposal to build 39 new tennis courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, on the former site of the Wimbledon Park Golf Club, a Grade Two listed heritage site in southeast London partly designed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown, which the AELTC bought in December 2018.
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In terms of visitors, the extra site will allow up to 10,000 more people a day to watch qualifying and up to 50,000 to enter the ground during each day of the main fortnight.
Last year, campaigners from Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) launched a legal bid against the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) decision to grant planning permission for the expansion.
The group’s barristers argued the move was “irrational” and should be quashed due to Wimbledon Park being covered by restrictions on how it could be used, established when the AELTC’s parent company acquired the golf course freehold in 1993, and that the development would cause “deliberate damage.”
Representatives for the GLA and the AELTC defended the challenge, arguing that the decision was a “planning judgement properly exercised” and that the restrictions were not “material”.
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By GlobalDataYesterday at the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Justice Saini dismissed SWP’s challenge, stating: “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.”
Deborah Jevans, chairwoman of the All England Club, said the organization was “delighted” by the ruling, adding: “We have spoken to more than 10,000 people who have taken the time to come in person and understand our plans in detail.
“The vast majority of people just want us to get on and deliver the many benefits on offer as soon as possible.”
SWP, however, indicated that it intends to appeal the ruling, with the group’s director, Christopher Coombe, stating: “This judgment would, if it stands, set a worrying precedent for the unwanted development of protected green belt and public open spaces around London and across the country.
“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 GLA’s involvement in the matter came after Merton Council’s development and planning application committee, which is responsible for most of the land required, approved the AELTC’s proposal, while Wandsworth Council voted against it.
Merton Council then referred the decision to the GLA last year, with the decision officially lying with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
However, Khan recused himself after publicly expressing support for the project in 2021. The decision was then handed to London’s deputy mayor for planning, Jules Pipe, who granted planning permission for the scheme.
At the time, Pipe said the proposals would provide “very significant benefits” and “clearly outweigh the harm.”
In addition to the courts and associated infrastructure, the AELTC’s proposals include seven maintenance buildings, access points, and an area of parkland with permissive public access. Plans also include building a boardwalk around and across Wimbledon Lake.
The AELTC has previously said its plans have the backing of environmental groups, including Natural England and the London Wildlife Trust.
Reacting to the ruling, Khan said the decision was “welcome news that will cement Wimbledon’s reputation as the greatest tennis competition in the world and London as the sporting capital of the world.”
