Late on November 3rd Lord Gus O’Donnell, a director of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) was forced to drop his proposed amendment 250 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill after receiving strong criticism from peers of all political parties. The amendment sought retrospectively to remove 45 years’ worth of public rights over open spaces, effectively favouring private landowners in general and AELTC in particular. It would have undone 150 years of statutory protectio