All England Club’s expansion plans given green light
The All England Club’s plans to expand the Wimbledon tennis championships estate were approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) at a public hearing last week. The proposals included an 8,000- seat stadium and 38 practice courts on neighbouring metropolitan open land (MOL).
An initial application was submitted in July 2021 to Merton and Wandsworth Councils. In October 2023, the scheme was approved, subject to conditions, by Merton Council’s planning committee but refused by neighbouring Wandsworth Council’s planning committee in line with officers’ recommendations.
To gain support, the club promised the scheme would provide a range of benefits to the local community, including a new 23-acre park that will be open to the public all year-round, restoration of elements of the park to Capability Brown’s 18th-century design by removing silt from the lake, and the planting of 1,500 trees to achieve biodiversity net gain.
The All England Club said the plans will “provide year-round significant public benefit to our community’, adding it understands “the importance of caring for the landscape and ecology of the site”.
Prior to the decision, Secretary of State Angela Rayner MP wrote to campaigners confirming that she would not be calling in the application and would accept the deputy mayor’s decision.
In announcing his decision, the deputy mayor for planning Jules Pipe said he felt the expansion was vital for Wimbledon’s long-term future as a Grand Slam tournament.
Pipe said, “I consider the proposal would be important in helping secure the future of these Championships in this location.”
The GLA planning officers’ report outlined a “very significant economic benefit to the London and UK-wide economy,” generating £336 million each year, and noted “unacceptable effects on the environment that would warrant refusal,” while adding that it would have a “very limited” impact on residents’ lives.
Campaigners from Save Wimbledon Park are now seeking a judicial review, which they have referred to as the “fifth and final set of the planning battle.” They cited traffic, noise, loss of wildlife, trees, and open spaces as their main concerns, while Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler feared the plans would “inevitably undermine the status of MOL across London”, however we believe this scheme will certainly help generate economic growth locally and more widely.