Plans to expand Wimbledon are set to be heard within the UK Supreme Court.
The All England Club (AELTC), host of the third Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, is trying to expand its footprint by adding a 3rd stadium court and 38 additional courts, tripling its size. The work is anticipated to cost over 200 million kilos ($254.8 million). .
The Greater London Authority (GLA) granted planning permission in September, but campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) has now instructed lawyers to challenge the choice, which could ultimately result in a judicial review within the High Court.
According to a spokesperson's statement seen on Wednesday, December 11, it has “sent a detailed formal letter to the GLA setting out our case and sending it to both Merton and Wandsworth councils and the AELTC copied”.
The letter is required as part of the “Pre-Action Protocol” for judicial review. In it, SWP's law firm, Russell Cooke, calls on the GLA to confirm that it will reconsider the planning permission. This would mean that the subsidy would be canceled. The company is asking for a “substantive response” by December 16; The letter is dated December 6th.
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said: “The Mayor is confident that this program will deliver a number of significant benefits, including economic, social and cultural benefits for the local region, the capital and the UK economy as well as the creation of new jobs and.” This will cement Wimbledon’s reputation as the largest tennis competition in the world.
“The Town Hall will respond to Save Wimbledon Park’s letter in due course.”
Separately, the AELTC confirmed on December 1 that it would challenge a key tenet of the SWP and other residents' groups' objections to the plans in the Supreme Court. The SWP argues that when AELTC purchased the freehold on the Wimbledon site and adjacent park in 1993, it fell under a statutory trust requiring that land be kept for public recreational purposes.
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The All England Club has given planning permission for a huge expansion to the Wimbledon tennis court
The AELTC argues that “there is no statutory trust affecting the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course site and never has been.” She will now take this argument to the Supreme Court to be proven correct.
The AELTC bought the golf course – whose lease was due to expire in 2041 – in 2018 for £65 million (now $87.1 million). a legal trust.
“We have been pointing out for some time that the statutory public recreation fund upon which the AELTC holds the historic golf course site represents a fundamental impediment to the proposed AELTC development,” an SWP spokesperson said.
“We are pleased to hear that the AELTC now recognizes our position and note that they wish to take this to litigation rather than engage in debate.”
The AELTC believes its plans will ensure Wimbledon does not fall behind the Australian Open, French Open and US Open in terms of prestige.
One of the 39 new pitches will be an 8,000-seat stadium and the other 38 will allow the AELTC to host the qualifying event locally. This event takes place a week before the start of the main tournament and Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament of the four whose qualifying tournament is not already taking place locally. Wimbledon's third show court, No. 2 Court, is the smallest of the third courts in the majors.
Planning permission for the extension went to the GLA after Merton and Wandsworth councils failed to agree. Merton granted permission in October 2023 before Wandsworth rejected it a month later. There is no expected timetable for the AELTC case, nor for the SWP's proposed judicial review. AELTC chair Deborah Jevans has said she wants the new courts operational by the early 2030s.
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