By Mike Dickinson
Wimbledon’s problematic expansion project will finally be heard by local councils in April... but the scheme - which is already a year behind schedule- could yet be hit with MORE delays
Wimbledon’s application for its historic expansion will finally be heard in April
All England Club want to expand onto neighbouring golf course Wimbledon Park
Wimbledon’s application for its historic expansion onto a neighbouring golf course is finally set to be heard in April – but the whole scheme could hit yet more delays.
The planning committees of Merton and Wandsworth Councils are due to consider the project in two months’ time, although the widespread expectation is that, even if passed, this will not be the end of the matter.
Such is the scale of the application – and local opposition - that it is likely to be called in by the London Mayor’s office or Whitehall’s Planning Inspectorate for a public inquiry which could take at least a further eighteen months to complete.
Already more than a year behind schedule, it will probably be the 2030s before the scheme to build a new 8,000-seat show court and 38 other courts to accommodate the qualifying event is completed, assuming that it all eventually passes.
Nearly two years have gone by since the All England Club formally launched its proposals for a project that will cost, minimally, several hundred million pounds."...read more
