Wimbledon: All England Club expansion set to proceed after campaign group loses legal challenge | Tennis News

Plans to almost triple the size of the Wimbledon tennis site should continue after the legal challenge of a campaign group against the decision to approve the proposals were rejected by a high court.

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) brought legal action against the decision of Greater London Authority (GLA) to grant a planning permit last year.

The proposals, submitted by the All England Club, would see the construction of 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000 -seat stadium in the field of the old Wimbledon Park Golf Club, allowing it to accommodate the qualifications of Wimbledon on site.

SWP lawyers told the High Court earlier this month that the decision to approve the plans was “irrational” and was to be canceled, because Wimbledon Park – a Grade II heritage site * partly designed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown – was covered by restrictions on how it could be used.

The GLA and the All England club defended the dispute, the court declared that the decision was a “properly exercised planning judgment” and that the restrictions were not “material”.

In a decision on Monday, judge Saini rejected the dispute.

He said: “In short, the accused’s decision on the relevance of the deliverability, applying both to the statutory trust and to the restrictive clauses, was a rationally exercised planning judgment and to take into account the appropriate and relevant factors.”

Following the decision, SWP said that he had “been informed that he” seeks “to challenge the decision and that he thought that the GLA” had made an important legal error in the way he dealt with the special legal status of the park “.

The proposals would see seven maintenance buildings, access points and a park area with permissive public access built, in addition to the courts and associated infrastructures.

They would also include work on Lake Wimbledon.

After the Merton Council approved the plans, but the Wandsworth council rejected them, the mayor of the London office took charge of the request, but the mayor Sir Sadiq Khan challenged the process after expressed public support for development.

The building permit for the program was granted by Jules Pipe, the deputy mayor of London for planning, who declared that the proposals “would facilitate very significant advantages” which “clearly prevail over the damage”.

Debbie Jevans, president of the All England Club, said at the time that the proposals would deliver 27 acres of “newly accessible park for the community”.

In written submissions, Sasha White KC said that the All England club had acquired free ownership for the golf course in 1993 and the lease in 2021.

The lawyer declared to the two -day hearing in London that the land was subject to a “statutory trust requiring that it be kept available to the leisure of the public” and that when the free property was acquired, the club concluded “restrictive clauses” governing its use.

He said that it meant that plans could not “restrict his use so as not to alter the appreciation of the general public of the extent or the opening of the golf course”.

He continued that a distinct procedure of the High Court was underway to find out if a statutory trust existed, and that if this is the case, the Club All England “agreed” that this “incompatible with the development of the proposal”.

A hearing in this case was to take place in January 2026.

In court, he said: “You could not have more protected ground in the planning system, frankly.”

Mark Westmoreland Smith KC, for the GLA, declared in written bids that Mr. Pipe had received “detailed advice” on the “relevance” of confidence and alleged allegations, and made his decision on the hypothesis they existed.

The lawyer said that the decision was a “properly exercised planning judgment and taking into account the appropriate and relevant factors”.

He said that planning agents “said the alleged obstacle” that restrictions would have “was not an important consideration.”

In his written arguments, Russell Harris KC, for the All England Club, said that urban planning agents “had recognized and considered” confidence and alliances.

In his 31 -page decision, Judge Saini said that the authority “correctly considered development implications on public public space”.

Christopher Coombe, director of the SWP, said after the judgment: “This judgment, if it stabilizes us, would establish a worrying precedent for the unwanted development of the protected green belt and public spaces open in London and across the country.

“The (All England Club) will surely have noted the indignation of the considerable public about this development, more recently expressed outside the law courts, and we continue to hope that they could be convinced to commit in constructively with us, with a view to obtaining a resolution of this four -year dispute.”

Mayor of London: Wimbledon’s expansion is “Bienvenue News”

Sir Sadiq said: “This is good news that will cement the reputation of Wimbledon as the largest tennis competition in the world and in London as the world’s sports capital.

“This regime will bring an important range of economic, social, cultural and environmental advantages to the region, the broader capital and the British economy, creating new jobs and green spaces.”

Jevans said in a statement that Club All England was “delighted” from the decision.

She said: “It is clear that we have a robust planning permit which allows us to create a permanent house for the Wimbledon qualification competition as well as to deliver 27 acres of beautiful new parks for local populations, offering public access to land which has been a private golf course for more than 100 years.

“We talked about more than 10,000 people who took the time to come in person and understand our plans in detail.

“The vast majority of people just want us to go and offer the many advantages offered as soon as possible.”