All England Club ‘surprised’ after Wimbledon expansion plan suffers big blow
Wimbledon chiefs say they are surprised after Wandsworth Council delivered a major setback to their plans to expand the All England Club.
Planning officers have recommended that councillors reject planning permission for the building of a new 8,000-seater show court and 38 other courts on Wimbledon Park at a vote next week.
Merton Council, which is responsible for most of the land in question, has already backed the proposals. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will have the final say in a decision due early next month.
The All England Club said: “We are surprised that planning officers at the London Borough of Wandsworth have recommended refusal of the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project, particularly after the London Borough of Merton resolved to approve the application following extensive analysis and debate both in their officers’ report and at the Planning Committee.
“We regret that Wandsworth’s officers have taken a different view but it is for Councillors on the Planning Applications Committee to make their own considered decision at the meeting on 21 November.
“We firmly believe the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project will deliver substantial social, economic and environmental benefits, including 23 acres of newly accessible green space, alongside hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of pounds in economic benefits for our neighbours in Wandsworth, Merton and across London.”
The latest development is a blow in the All England Club’s long-running attempt to expand to a site across the road from its historic home.
It has owned the freehold to the land since the 1990s and bought up the remaining term of the lease from Wimbledon Park Golf Club in 2018.
The Club submitted a planning application in July 2021 and amended it the following year. It includes provision to make some of the courts available to the public.
expansion is needed “to ensure that we will be able to host qualifying onsite in order to maintain and enhance our position as the pinnacle of tennis”.
But the plans have faced vociferous opposition from some local residents who have raised concerns about the environmental impact and loss of green space.
The land is designated Metropolitan Open Land, meaning “very special circumstances” are required to justify development. While Merton found in favour, Wandsworth planning officers have advised their councillors to oppose it at next Tuesday’s vote.
“The proposed development would result in the net loss of open space/green infrastructure, with no replacement provision provided,” they said.