Wimbledon’s eye-watering £200million expansion proposal has been given planning approval by the Greater London Authority (GLA). A fiery hearing saw disgruntled locals and the All England Club (AELTC) clash over whether the benefits of the development would outweigh the drawbacks.
Deputy mayor of London, Jules Pipe, eventually came to the decision that the ‘significant’ economic benefits of the project more than offset the potential harm done. And deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has decided not to put the issue forward for ministerial scurinty.
Passionate campaigners are said to have erupted into ‘boos’ and cries of ‘shame on you’ when the verdict was read out at City Hall on Friday. They still have the power to take the expansion plan to judicial review and even the supreme court.
But Friday’s ruling was a major breakthrough for the AELTC, who want to build 39 new tennis courts and a mammoth 8,000-seat stadium on protected land opposite Wimbledon’s current site.
The project would also see the grounds almost triple in size from 41 acres to 115 acres. The AELTC argued their case partly by pointing out that the expansion would allow them to host Wimbledon qualifying on site, rather than at the Roehampton Community Sports Centre three miles away.
Incorporating qualifying into the event would bring Wimbledon in line with the other three Grand Slams. AELTC chair Deborah Jevans told BBC Sport: “Clearly we are very, very pleased – it has been a long journey to this point.
“Equally there is a journey to go through before we start to build. Our ambition, if everything falls into place, is that we could see tennis balls being hit on that site between 2030 and 2033.”
The Wimbledon Society, which opposes the plans, condemned the approval of what it calls an “industrial tennis complex with an unacceptable environmental impact”.
Other opponents have warned about the impact on biodiversity and animal life, the felling of 300 trees in the area, and the environmental effects of building work which would take at least six years.
Thelma Ruby, a 99-year-old former Coronation Street actress who lives nearby, has even threatened to chain herself to the grounds before allowing the building work to commence. “Let them arrest me,” she said at a public meeting organised by Save Wimbledon Park earlier this week.
Responding to the concerns of some locals, Alison King, a landscape architect working with the AELTC, said: “Three-hundred out of 1,000 trees would be felled, but the majority are lower grade category C and U trees. 1,500 new trees will be planted. And the design enables the vast majority of valuable trees to remain unharmed.”
