After a recent court ruling that the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC)’s plans to expand Wimbledon are ‘not restricted by land-use rules’, it seems that Wimbledon Park may soon lose a lot of its land. The AELTC are planning to triple the size of Wimbledon tennis site, adding 38 courts and an 8,000-seater stadium.
This leaves the future of Wimbledon Park uncertain, as the proposed development would take over a huge amount of land. The court ruling is just one step in what has been an ongoing battle between locals and the tennis site, with campaign group Save Wimbledon Park fighting to keep the land as it is.
The AELTC’s plans will allow more practice space for players, as well as giving them capacity to host their qualifying competition in SW19 too – in line with the practices of other grand slams. In turn, this means that fans will have even more opportunities to see their favourite players up close.
However, this expansion will make a pretty serious dent in the amount of available parkland, which causes concerns around both the environment and the availability of public outdoor space something not to be taken for granted in London.
Campaign group Save Wimbledon Park have been arguing that this land should be kept public, though the High Court ruled that the land was never ‘dedicated to the use of public recreation’ as it was ‘used as a private golf club’. The group intends to apply to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal this decision, as they still believe that the area is indeed important for public use.
They have outlined alternative expansion plans on their website, which leave more open space while still adding new courts to the tennis site. These alternate plans are even backed by Richard Rees, the architect who designed Wimbledon’s current site in the 1990s. The campaign has also received support from the MPs for Wimbledon and Putney, Paul Kohler and Fleur Anderson.
Despite pushback, the AELTC plans to go ahead with expansions, stating that the development will actually deliver 27 acres of new parkland on what was previously a private golf club – as well as allowing them to ‘maintain Wimbledon’s position as one of the world’s most successful sporting events’. Opinions amongst locals are strongly divided, with obvious pros and cons to each side.
