Statement dated 3 January 2025
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.
Jeremy Hudson on behalf of Save Wimbledon Park said: “We have taken this momentous step because our directors, members and the community feel strongly that this precious, historic and highly protected environment should be preserved from inappropriate development, be allowed to remain accessible, and continue to be available for community use for sport and recreation. This step is not just for our local community but also important for many other Metropolitan Open Land spaces under threat of development.”
SWP believes that the planning decision made errors of law and planning policy, as it failed to
1. take into account the implications of the statutory public recreation trust and the restrictive covenants, both of which prevent the proposed development; and
2. note that recent golf course development was in planning policy terms “deliberate damage” to this historic heritage asset, such that the rectification of such damage should not count as a benefit; and
3. appreciate that the proposed private tennis entertainment complex was not an “alternative sports and recreational provision” as required by planning policy.
In the meantime, the AELTC have stated publicly that they wish to start their own legal proceedings, asking a court to decide whether the former golf course is subject to the statutory public recreation trust. SWP’s research, and expert legal opinions, including from the GLA’s own lawyers, concluded that the land is protected by the trust, and that any development would be incompatible with its use by the public for recreation in the exercise of its rights under the trust. The AELTC deny the trust status of the land and say that “having this matter resolved is an important step that will deliver reassurance to us and to the local community”. The AELTC wish to name SWP as the defendant in this case.
The AELTC remain silent about the restrictive covenants, which they entered into when they acquired the land. These prevent building on the land, restrict its use to leisure and recreation, and are separate from planning. Therefore, they remain in full force and effect.
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Save Wimbledon Park Ltd is a private company limited by guarantee, registered in England with Company Number 16071431. Registered Office 2 Putney Hill, London SW15 6AB
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Notes
This developer has spent more than £70m buying the land, many £millions on fees and has been working on the project for more than 6 years. Their planning application was made nearly four years ago. They were told about the restrictive covenants three and a half years ago, and about the statutory trust a month after the Supreme Court decision in Day v Shropshire in 2023. They fought through the planning process, now have a planning consent and planning agreement and should be ready to start.
As in the statement above, lawyers for SWP had already put forward grounds for a Judicial Review (“JR”) of the Mayor of London’s planning decision, highlighting the trust protecting this important open space as the first item, to which the AELTC responded:
“We note that as we understand it one of the issues raised in that letter [JR Grounds] is the question whether the GLA ought to have determined whether our client’s property is subject to a trust under s.164 of the Public Health Act 1875. Our client’s view is that the GLA is not competent to make such a determination, and this is a matter for the Court to determine.
“Indeed, it was for this reason that our client had instructed us to draft a Letter Before Claim in relation to our client’s prospective claim to determine that issue. Your letter arrived as we were finalising the Letter Before Claim. Our letter sets out our client’s view that it is necessary for this issue to be determined by the High Court prior to development taking place and that, given the potential issues of fact, such action should take place by action in the usual way.”
Perhaps they had hoped SWP would go away? They could have taken this step to resolve the status of the land at any time in the last 18 months, but they have done nothing. They are now suggesting that the matter is urgent and should be expedited.
The AELTC’s litigation goes to the heart of the protection of open, green spaces all over London and the rest of the country. IF they think they are correct (about which they clearly have some doubt), this sort of “public interest” case demands a full airing of all sides of the arguments.
In 2025 we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Public Health Act 1875 which preserved important open spaces like the whole Wimbledon Park Estate for public recreation.
