Putney News | 20 March 2026 | Kieren McCarthy Planning challenge, Lords amendment and Merton covenant all unresolved after Thursday’s ruling. "The All England Lawn Tennis Club won yesterday’s High Court ruling by a wider margin than almost anyone expected. But Save Wimbledon Park’s response, issued within hours, reveals a fight that now has more fronts than a single court case, and one of those fronts moves to the House of Lords within weeks. Yesterday’s judgment resolved on

Save Wimbledon Park Ltd. | Press Release | 19 March 2026 There was disappointment for Save Wimbledon Park Ltd (SWP) and its supporters as the High Court ruled that the golf course land in Wimbledon Park is not subject to a statutory public recreation trust (under the Public Health Act 1875). Accordingly, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is not bound by any restrictions, resulting from such trust, which might impede the massive expansion of its estate onto that land.

Putney News | 17 March 2026 | Kieren McCarthy A court, the Lords, purdah and a May election are all reaching their climax at once. "Leader of Wandsworth Council, Simon Hogg, issued a statement on Friday urging the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to reconsider its plans to build on Wimbledon Park. Save Wimbledon Park was delighted. The AELTC has not responded, in large part because they know he has no power to compel them to do anything. That is not a criticism of Hogg’s

Clapham Junction Insider Newsletter Q1 2026 | 14 March 2026 | Cyril Richert (Extract from newsletter published with kind permission of Clapham Junction Insider) "...the long-running dispute over the Wimbledon tennis club expansion returned to court in January. This time, the argument centres over the existence of a statutory trust that the club may have overlooked, and which could yet block the entire development. And the legal saga is far from over: another appeal hearing is

Wandsworth.Gov.UK | 13 March 2026 "Leader of Wandsworth Council speaks on AELTC proposal" Council Leader Simon Hogg said: "“This proposal by AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club) to over-commercialise this neighbourhood for a tournament that lasts a few weeks each summer, at the expense of green space used by local residents every day of the year, is not what our community wants. “Wandsworth Council has opposed this development from the start. We urge the AELTC to suspend its

Putney News | 16 February 2026 | Kieren McCarthy "Same peers, new bill, same mechanism abandoned three months ago." "Two peers who previously co-sponsored an amendment with an AELTC board member have tabled a fresh attempt to override open space protections for parks across England, three months after t heir first effort was abandoned following cross-party opposition in the House of Lords. Amendment 222C to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would create

Clapham Junction Insider | 10 February 2026 | Cyril Richert "From Southfields station to the Royal Courts of Justice, a vocal SWP crowd rallied outside the Royal Courts of Justice for the opening of a pivotal High Court hearing on whether a 150-year-old statutory trust protects the golf course land from the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s controversial £200m expansion. Despite the cold weather (at least without rain) —a stark contrast to last July’s warm sunshine—a similar gr

There has been comprehensive press coverage of the start of the AELTC vs SWP statutory trust court case . Here are some of the articles. More will be added as they emerge: BBC News, 16th Jan : Wimbledon plan faces dispute over 150-year-old law: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7mylp34m3o Reuters, 16th Jan : Wimbledon expansion plans back in UK court for latest legal battle: https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/wimbledon-expansion-plans-back-uk-court-latest-legal-battle-

Putney News | 15 January 2016 | Kieren McCarthy Our legal explainer breaks down what the judge must weigh as Save Wimbledon Park takes on the All England Club. "A six-day High Court trial begins tomorrow that will determine whether the All England Lawn Tennis Club can build 39 grass courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course. The case pits Save Wimbledon Park, a residents’ campaign group, against one of sport’s most powerful institutions. At st

Clapham Junction Insider | 18 December 2025 | by Cyril Richert "A Lords amendment aimed at clearing the way for Wimbledon’s expansion has fallen, leaving the project exposed to renewed legal challenges — including further cases in 2026 — over public land, statutory trusts and historic community promises." "Following the loss of the first round of legal battles over the summer — and with further challenges looming, including an appeal and a separate trust-related case expecte

Wimbledon Times | 27 November 2025 | Paul Kohler "Much like the protagonists in Charles Dickens’ fictional satire on the English legal system, I fear something similar is happening here in SW19 - due, not to the manifest failings of our civil justice system, but the dogged intransigence of the All England Club. The AELTC is currently facing triple legal jeopardy. The planning permission they were eventually granted by the Mayor of London, after Labour’s Merton’s Council gave

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) has been granted permission to take its judicial review case to the Court of Appeal . The Appeal Court has decided that the High Court’s decision in July 2025 to uphold the GLA’s decision to grant the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) planning permission requires legal scrutiny. Here is some of the recent press coverage: BBC, 20 Nov 2025 : Wimbledon's expansion plans to be challenged in appeal court: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2l2kl5rl4

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) has been granted permission to take its judicial review case to the Court of Appeal. The Appeal Court has decided that the High Court’s decision in July 2025 to uphold the GLA’s decision to grant the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) planning permission requires legal scrutiny. The planning permission granted by London’s Deputy Mayor which is under challenge gave the go-ahead for the AELTC to build on the former public Wimbledon Park golf course,

Putney News | 4/11/2025 | Kieren McCarthy "Lord O’Donnell’s controversial law change dropped following government rejection and cross-party opposition." "Lord Gus O’Donnell’s controversial amendment to retrospectively validate the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Wimbledon Park land purchase was abandoned in the House of Lords last night after the government rejected it and peers condemned it as an “erosion” of public rights. Amendment 250 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bi

Putney News | 29 October 2025 | Kieren McCarthy "Wimbledon Park expansion could proceed if retrospective law change passes today." " (Updated: The debate on Amendment 250 has been postponed and is now expected to take place next week.)" "A controversial law change that could clear the way for the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s massive Wimbledon Park expansion was due to be debated in the House of Lords today but has been postponed until next week – despite government ministe

Open Spaces Society | 30 October 2025 | Kate Ashbrook "An amendment[1] to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, due to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday 3 November, aims to remove long-standing public rights on green spaces when the land is sold by a local authority. We are urging peers to oppose it. The amendment would make it much easier for local authorities to sell open spaces to developers, ignoring and negating public rights, reversing the recent Day case[2]

GB News | 24/10/2025 | Lewis Henderson "More than 50 green sites across the Capital and its outskirts are at risk of development as a concrete jungle threatens to overrun the UK. Despite sufficient space on brownfield sites to develop between 1.2 million and 1.5 million new homes across Britain, councils are still ploughing ahead with plans, causing fierce rows with locals. A study from planning consultancy Lichfields said that "very significant areas" of the green belt are

Putney News | 25 October 2025 | Kieren McCarthy "MPs slam ‘scandalous’ conflict as Lord O’Donnell’s amendment would kill Wimbledon Park legal challenge." "A member of the House of Lords is set to sponsor legislation next week that could directly benefit the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s ongoing legal battle over Wimbledon Park – while simultaneously serving as a director of three companies controlled by the club. Lord Gus O’Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary, is one of f

A proposed amendment change (Amendment Number 250) to appear after clause 108 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is to be discussed next week in the House of Lords on Monday (Oct 27) or Wednesday (Oct 29), proposed by Lords Banner, Grabiner, O’Donnell and Pannick. This would potentially have a profound impact on the development proposed by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) not to mention countless other open spaces designated for public use and recreation. In addi

August 22, 2025. SWP has applied for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice Saini’s judgment in July (on SWP’s request...