Plans to build an 8,000 seater stadium and 38 grass courts have been given the go-ahead by the Deputy Mayor of London. The decision, made yesterday, (September 27) at the Greater London Assembly (GLA) bookends a controversial planning saga that has grabbed headlines for the past three years.
The decision to grant conditional planning permission means the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) can now move ahead with its plans to build on the site of a former golf club opposite its current site in Wimbledon. AELTC believes its plans will deliver to Londoners the greatest sporting transformation since the London 2012 Olympic games’.
Following the decision, AELTC chair and former tennis player Debbie Jevans told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Hopefully this means a lot for local people, I’m one of them. What it does is give us an opportunity to open up an extra park, and to promote more education at our stadium and within the clubhouse. It will bring more eyeballs to Wimbledon, which is great.”
Members of the Save Wimbledon Park group braved the rain to protest outside City Hall before the meeting Credit: Harrison Galliven
In his decision, Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe cited the ‘very significant economic benefits’ that the proposals would bring, as well as a need to keep Wimbledon as the pre-eminent tennis tournament as key reasons for his support. According to AELTC, the proposals would bring £336.02m to the UK economy every year.
During the marathon meeting at City Hall, GLA officers heard a range of supporters and objectors clash on issues relating to the proposals. Environmental concerns and AELTC’s promise of improved public access to the parkland site were some of the key debate points.
Members of the Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) group spoke of how the plans would be disastrous for the protected parkland, which is afforded Metropolitan Open Land Status. Putney MP Fleur Anderson also warned the decision would ‘set a very dangerous precedent nationwide for the Green Belt’ and that ‘local people are the losers in this deal’.
A birds eye view of how the Wimbledon Tennis Club could look by 2028. Credit: AELTC.
Newly elected Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler also criticised Merton Council and AELTC’s apparent lack of transparency and collaboration with the community. He also referenced AELTC’s commitment that the land would only be used for recreational purposes or as an open space when it bought Wimbledon Park Land in 1993.
While Pipe agreed that there would be some negative environmental and ecological impact, he was satisfied the public benefits amounted to very special circumstances. AELTC’s case for public benefit largely focuses on its creation of a new 23-acre public park, with access free all year round outside of the three-week championship period.
Susan Cusack has been fighting against AELTC’s plans for the past three years, but insists the fight is not over Credit: Harrison Galliven
AELTC’s case for expansion, launched in 2021, is to ensure it can hold the qualifying round of the championships on site and, in their words, ‘keep the tournament at the elite level’. The week-long qualifier rounds are currently played at a site in Roehampton, on which AELTC holds a lease.
Wimbledon is currently the only grand slam tournament to not hold its qualifying week on the same site as the main tournament, leading Jevans to comment: “Without the proposals, Wimbledon will fall behind.”
The club’s initial plans were accepted by Merton Council subject to certain planning conditions in October 2023. However, they were thrown into doubt when Wandsworth Council, some of whose land the application also straddles, announced they intended to refuse it two months later.
A revised bid was submitted to the GLA in May and the decision was ‘called in’ to Pipe, with Mayor Sadiq Kahn not involved, having publicly supported the initial plans in 2021. The revised plans include the creation of a new northern parkland providing an additional 1.7 hectares of publicly accessible parkland. They also create a smaller 0.3 hectare area of parkland to the south of the site.
Putney MP Fleur Anderson was one of the two standing MPs who objected to AELTC’s plans Credit: Harrison Galliven
There will be a reduction of parking on the site, with only staff blue badge and disabled parking allowed. Active travel will be encouraged in their absence. AELTC has committed to giving away thousands of free tennis tickets to nearby schoolchildren, a move which the not-for-profit Merton Schools Sports Partnership praised.
By way of environmental benefits, AELTC has committed to de-silting and de-culverting the lake as well as retaining veteran trees. AELTC insists that it will restore the historic Capability Brown parkland, from what it currently views as an ‘ecologically dead’ former golf course.
Pipe’s decision to opt in favour of the recommendations to approve planning permission left many in the chamber disappointed, with some SWP members crying ‘shame’ upon hearing the decision. Speaking to the LDRS after the decision, MP Ms Anderson told the LDRS: “The thought of having thousands of lorries going through our area, of having this huge stadium built on this beautiful land is going to be very disappointing for people. I’m really proud of the campaign we fought, 21,000 people signed the petition and sent in objections so we’ve really been campaigning very hard.”
CGI of the grounds including the proposed show court during the Wimbledon Championships. Credit: Allies and Morrison/All England Lawn Tennis Club, provided in Wandsworth Council documents
Susan Cusack leads the SWP and spoke against the plans during the meeting at City Hall. She told the LDRS how the SWP plans to continue working with AELTC and potentially launch a judicial review of the decision.
She said: “It’s not ending, we’ve still got a long way to go. Myself, Fleur and Leonie Cooper (London Assembly member) went up to the AELTC at the end and said congratulations but we need some proper dialogue.”
I think the economic benefits and environmental aspects have not been thoroughly thought through, and there’s an awful lot more detail that needs to be teased out. There’s an awful long way to go before this fully gets passed through.”
