London’s mayor has called for World War II to expand the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Wimbledon grand slam championship. He took responsibility for the decision on whether to approve controversial plans to build on a grade*-listed park.
“This is a major planning application of London-wide significance,” a town hall spokesman said on Monday. “Therefore, the deputy mayor issued a direction under section 7 of the Town and Country Planning (London Mayor) Order that he become the local planning authority for the purpose of determining the application. “A full planning hearing will be held in due course.”
The AELTC, which has staged the championships since 1877, has applied for permission to build an 8,000-seat, 10-storey demonstration court and a further 38 grass courts at Wimbledon Park, but campaigners have condemned it as an “industrial tennis complex”.
Relating to: Tiebreak on horizon as mayor’s office considers Wimbledon redevelopment
Proposals to almost triple the size of the tennis championship venue from 17 hectares (42 acres) to 46 hectares were approved by Merton council but rejected by neighboring Wandsworth council.
Wimbledon Park, landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century and specially protected as a “metropolitan open space”, extends into both boroughs, so the plans had to be approved by both councils before they could go ahead.
Merton forwarded the decision to the Greater London Authority (GLA). The decision officially rests with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, but he recused himself as he has publicly expressed support for expansion in 2021.
London’s deputy mayor, Jules Pipe, decided to take control of the application at the mayor’s planning meeting on Monday.
More than 16,000 people signed a petition to “save Wimbledon Park” and councils received 2,000 letters of objection. Local Conservative MP Stephen Hammond and Labor MP Fleur Anderson have also joined forces to oppose the AELTC’s plans.
Anderson, MP for Putney, Roehampton, Southfields and Wandsworth Borough, said: “I have been campaigning against these proposals with residents for three years. Current plans are bad for public access to green spaces, Londoners’ lungs and our environment.
“The GLA is a world-leading local authority in prioritizing the health of Londoners and our environment. “I hope they tell Wimbledon Tennis that they need to go back to the drawing board.”
AELTC chairperson Deborah Jevans welcomed the town hall’s decision to review the application. “Our proposals will deliver one of the biggest sporting transformations for London since the 2012 Olympics,” she said. “This will put the knockout event on par with other grand slams and ensure Wimbledon remains one of the world’s greatest sporting events.”
Jevans said the club’s plans “will unlock year-round community benefits, including a new 23-acre park created on land that has been inaccessible to the public for over 100 years.”
“Securing the future of the championships and significantly increasing public green space is a win-win situation for Londoners and will demonstrate beyond doubt that London is the sporting capital of the world.”
Iain Simpson, chairman of campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP), also welcomed the announcement. He said: “It is noteworthy that all political parties declared their opposition to AELTC’s plans. SWP has been fighting this practice since it was introduced three years ago. “We call on the AELTC to talk to us and their local communities: it is time for them to rethink.”
Around 300 trees will be removed to enable AELTC’s construction plans, which some locals have described as “corporate ecocide”. The club stated that most of the trees were of “poor quality” and promised to plant 1,500 new trees.
AELTC first aimed to expand into Wimbledon Park in 1993 when it purchased freehold of the land from Merton council for £5.2 million. However, he signed an agreement that he “will not use” it. [land] other than for amusement or recreational purposes or in open space”.
The club leased the land to Wimbledon Park golf club until 2018, when its chairman said he feared the SW19 championships would fall behind rivals in New York, Paris and Melbourne if it did not expand and offer more facilities for players and spectators. The obvious place to expand is the golf club, he said.
But the golf club’s lease on the land ran until 2041, so the AELTC was unable to reclaim the land for another 23 years. A tennis club has offered golf club members £65 million to give up their clubs early. This was an £85,000 windfall for each member, including Piers Morgan, Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and former cabinet secretary Gus O’Donnell.