The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) contentious Wimbledon Park Project appears set to finally be given the green light after the Greater London Authority (GLA) recommended it for approval.
Officers at the GLA yesterday (Thursday) recommended that Deputy Mayor, Jules Pipe, should grant conditional planning permission at a public hearing that has been scheduled for September 27. While admitting that the scheme will lead to a “loss of open space”, the GLA has decided that “the balance is clearly in favour of the grant of consent”. It stated: “There are no material considerations that are considered to justify the refusal of consent.”
A 221-page report also stated the project would generate £336m (€400.6m/$447m) in annual benefits and “would result in the creation of 40 year-round jobs and 256 Championships jobs”.
In January it was revealed that Pipe had taken control of the Wimbledon Park Project, with a full planning hearing set to be held. The decision was taken after Mayor Sadiq Khan recused himself from the process due to publicly backing the project back in 2021.
The AELTC in November maintained that its Wimbledon Park Project offers “significant social, economic and environmental improvements” after the plans were rejected by Wandsworth Council, leading to the referral to the GLA.
The Council’s planning committee voted 7-0 against the plans after officers earlier recommended their rejection, concluding that there were no “very special circumstances” that would outweigh the harm to Metropolitan Open Land, with Wimbledon Park having been first designed by landscape architect Capability Brown in the 18th century.
The AELTC had cleared the first major hurdle for its Wimbledon Park project in October after it received planning approval from Merton Council. The AELTC in June 2021 revealed details of a ‘New Park for London’ concept while also providing an update on its proposed 8,000-seat show court. The latest update came after the AELTC in April outlined plans for the 8,000-seat show court as part of an expansion of the Wimbledon grounds.
The AELTC wants to build the stadium on land it purchased from Wimbledon Park Golf Club for £65m in 2018 and it had been hoped the court will be ready for play by 2030. The ‘New Park for London’ concept aims to create London’s “newest publicly accessible park”.
The AELTC’s plans for the new show court, meanwhile, centre on a tree-like structure and have been conceived to tie in with the surrounding landscape. The court would be located outside of the members’ club and would be open for year-round activities such as smaller tournaments, events and school visits.
Importantly, the plans also include proposals for 38 new courts – a move that would allow qualifying events to be held on-site, bringing Wimbledon in-line with its three fellow grand slam tournaments.
However, the project as a whole has provoked strong opposition from local politicians, residents and environmentalists.
In May this year, the AELTC committed to providing additional public parkland for the scheme it believes will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since the 2012 Olympic Games.
The AELTC revealed plans to create four acres of new public parkland as part of its proposals to transform the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course. The enhancement to the proposals followed consultation with the GLA and an extensive public consultation period.
