Featured image credit: AELTC
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) will go to court to resolve questions over its Wimbledon Park development project, with campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) taking action against the plans.
In October, the AELTC cleared the first major hurdle for its Wimbledon Park project after it received planning approval from Merton Council. The AELTC, organiser of the Wimbledon Championships, submitted a planning application for the project back in October 2021.
The AELTC wants to build an 8,000-seat show court on land it purchased from Wimbledon Park Golf Club for £65m (€78.8m/$82.7m) in 2018 and it had been hoped that the court would be ready for play by 2030. The plans also include proposals for 38 new courts, which would allow qualifying to be held on-site.
The project was approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in September, with Merton Council approval coming the following month. The project has divided opinion, with Merton Council stating the scheme had received 894 objections.
Yesterday (Wednesday), SWP issued a statement confirming that it will be taking further action against the plans after seeking expert advice from barristers and solicitors. SWP believes the GLA’s decision to approve the plans was wrong in law because it failed to take into account the implications of the statutory Public Recreation Trust and the restrictive covenants.
SWP also claims that the GLA approval does not acknowledge that the heritage golf course is environmentally protected as an “irreplaceable habitat”. Additionally, SWP claims that the GLA’s decision was wrong because it failed to appreciate that the offers to continue to fund the Wimbledon Foundation or the Lawn Tennis Association are “irrelevant” in the planning process.
Three more claims put forward by SWP are that the GLA decision failed to publish important background papers relied on by their officers’ report; failed to note that the recent planting on the golf course amounted to “deliberate damage” to the heritage asset; and failed to appreciate that the proposed tennis entertainment complex was not an “alternative sports and recreational provision” as required by planning policy.
SWP has instructed Russell-Cooke Solicitors to challenge the validity of the GLA’s decision via a judicial review. SWP said it has sent a formal letter to the GLA, with copies set to Merton and Wandsworth Councils and to the AELTC. SWP added that “legal proceedings may follow”.
The AELTC has now revealed that it will itself take the matter to the High Court to clarify any concerns set out by opposition groups.
In a statement issued to PA Media, a spokesperson for the AELTC said: “Our position, and that adopted by Merton Council on advice, was and remains that there is not, nor has there ever been, a statutory trust affecting the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course land. In the circumstances we recognise that the correct thing to do, at this stage, is to put the matter before the court to establish that there is no trust over the land.
“Today we have issued a letter before action in order to begin this court process. We believe that having this matter resolved is an important step that will deliver reassurance to us and to the local community. This marks the next phase of our long-term project that will maintain our position at the pinnacle of tennis and to deliver year-round benefits for local people with 27 acres of newly accessible parkland for everyone to enjoy.”
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