The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s proposals to develop Wimbledon Park have received a boost from the Greater London Authority (GLA) in a report prepared and published on Thursday by City Hall’s planning officers, which supports the expansion plans.
We believe that these plans will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since 2012. The land that we propose to enhance has been used as a private members’ golf course for well over 100 years and, as a core part of this project, we will create 27 acres of beautiful new parkland, free for the public to access and enjoy.” Deborah Jevans, Chair of the AELTC
In the 221-page report, officials wrote that the project complied with most relevant planning policies and there were ‘no material considerations that are considered to justify the refusal of consent’.
The report also states that the proposed plans would bring in £336m of annual benefits, and ‘would result in the creation of 40 year-round jobs and 256 Championships jobs’.
The final decision to approve the scheme rests with Jules Pipe, the Deputy Mayor of London, after Mayor Sadiq Khan excused himself from the process, having publicly expressed his support for the plans in 2021.
A public hearing to decide whether to grant permission for the project will be held on Friday 27 September when Mr Pipe will consider the strength of arguments for approving or refusing the application.
The AELTC’s plans looks to construct 39 new tennis grass courts, including a 10-storey 8,000 seat show court, on the former site of Wimbledon Park Golf Club, as well as developing parkland with access to the public and a boardwalk around the Wimbledon Park lake.
The plans would almost triple The Championship site from 17 to 46 hectares, and would involve the removal of some 300 trees, which the Club pledges to replace by planting 1,500 new, healthy ones.
The AELTC first submitted the £200 million (€237 million) project in 2021, which has been met with opposition from the neighbouring Wandsworth Council, environmentalists and residents, although Merton Council have already approved the application, and organisations such as the London Wildlife Trust, Historic England and The Gardens Trust acknowledge the public benefits of the scheme.
“These plans are not right for our community and are damaging for the environment, with industrial-scale development and permanent loss of access to our park,” said Fleur Anderson, Putney’s Labour MP, in a statement co-signed by Paul Kohler, Wimbledon’s Liberal Democrat MP.
Campaigners opposed to the project believe it would cause unacceptable damage to the area’s biodiversity and heritage, arguing that it also could set a dangerous precedent for sites like the former golf course, which are designated as ‘Metropolitan Open Land’ and are protected from development in most circumstances.
The AELTC, though, says the scheme will ‘secure the future of The Championships’ by enabling the Club to better compete with other global tennis tournaments, while it will create ‘year-round benefits for the local community’.
The planning officers’ support was welcomed by Deborah Jevans, Chair of the AELTC, who said: “We believe that these plans will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since 2012.
“The land that we propose to enhance has been used as a private members’ golf course for well over 100 years and, as a core part of this project, we will create 27 acres of beautiful new parkland, free for the public to access and enjoy.”
Any final decision by the Deputy Mayor could still be over-ridden by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, should she decide to ‘call in’ the planning application herself.
The public hearing will be held in the Chamber at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London E16 1ZE, on 27 September, starting at 10am.
It will also be live-streamed, and those wishing to attend are advised to notify the GLA by emailing Wimbledon.Park@london.gov.uk.
