Wimbledon’s plan to expand the basis for the tennis world’s oldest and most prestigious Grand Slam has overcome its first legal hurdle on Monday as the London High Court refused to challenge the campaigner’s project.
Campaign group Save Wimbledon Park has taken legal action over planning permission granted to all England Lawn Tennis and Cloak Clubs (AELTC), which wants to triple the size of their main site on a £200 million ($269.6 million) project.
The expansion will allow the ground to host qualifying rounds at the site, home to the championship since 1877, featuring 39 new courthouses, 8,000-seat show courts and an increase in daily capacity of 50,000 people.
AELTC’s plans to redevelop the previous golf course it owns are supported by several key players, including Novak Jjokovic and some local residents.
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The planning permission was approved last year by Greater Augmente in London, but Save Wimbledon Park argued this month that GLA failed to properly consider the redevelopment restrictions on the land, as GLA agreed to in 1993 when AELTC’s parent company purchased freehold of the golf course.
Judge Pushpinder Saini has refused to challenge Wimbledon Park to the legality of planning permission, but Wimbledon’s plans still face another legal battle over land status, which will be heard early next year.
AELTC Chair Debbie Jevance said she was pleased with the verdict and that the club would “take attention to other legal proceedings” on the land on the previous golf course.
Christopher Coombe, director of Save Wimbledon Park, said the group would attempt to appeal Monday’s decision, setting a “worrisome precedent for the unwanted development of protected green belts and public open spaces.”
