Save Wimbledon Park

The All England Lawn Tennis Club are still pursuing their application for planning permission to develop the Heritage Landscape of the Grade II* registered Wimbledon Park. The application received approval by Merton's planning committee on 26th October 2023, this was just the first stage in the process. Wandsworth Council's planning committee met on 21st November and voted unanimously to refuse the application.  The GLA planning hearing was held on 27 September and approved the AELTC's expansion on to the heritage Wimbledon Park former golf course, but that is not the end of the story.  

Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe when issuing his decision commented that "the proposal ... would be harmful ... to the openness of the MOL" (Metropolitan Open Land = Green Belt), and that the "Show Court will challenge the ability to appreciate the parish church of St Mary".

The GLA at the same time published an opinion of a very senior barrister about the public trust issue which SWP had drawn to the attention of the planning authorities.  Mr Timothy Morshead KC wrote as follows:
"It follows - I admit contrary to what I had expected when initially reviewing the papers - that in my opinion ... members of the public have rights over the golf course, despite the 1986 lease and despite the 1993 transfer. It follows that the owner [AELTC] must make the land available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis ..."

These comments move the application on to the next stage, the review of the planning decision for legality ("Judicial Review"), the enforcement of the 1993 restrictive covenants in which the All England promised not to develop, and the enforcement of the public trust, the fourth and fifth sets of this lengthy match. 

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Save Wimbledon Park Ltd (‘SWP’) has started legal action to challenge the validity of the Mayor of London’s decision to grant planning permission for the AELTC redevelopment of the former Wimbledon Park golf course. This action names the AELTC and the London Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth as Interested Parties.

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Meanwhile the AELTC has launched its own legal action to try to establish whether the statutory public recreation trust on which the AELTC hold the heritage golf course land is a fundamental block on their proposed development.

Both MPs (Paul Kohler, Wimbledon and Fleur Anderson, Putney) and the Assembly Member Leonie Cooper have urged the AELTC to talk to the Residents' Associations, Save Wimbledon Park and all those in the Community who are concerned about this industrial tennis complex, some 22,000 who have signed our petition, but there has been nothing.   The AELTC must think again.

On Capability Brown’s Grade II* historic and highly protected Metropolitan Open Land they plan an 8,000-seat stadium, 38 courts, 10 other buildings and 9kms of roads and paths (see a map illustrating the plans). They propose a new AELTC private park to which the public may be admitted but which would contain a 30,000sqft maintenance building. 

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All this would break the 1993 covenants demanded by Merton to protect the golf course and agreed by AELTC on their purchase.  On 14 July 1993 Merton promised that the golf course would be kept as open space: statement by Tony Colman, leader of Merton Council: “...when we decided to sell this land, we did so ensuring it would be kept as open space and we did so determined that the next owner and any future owner would be denied forever the opportunity to use this space for any development."

See this briefing paper for more information.​