微密圈

Allies & Morrison鈥檚 plans to triple the size of the grounds of the Wimbledon tennis championships can go ahead, the High Court has said following a legal challenge by campaigners.

The 拢200m scheme, which features 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000-seat show court, was approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in September last year after Wandsworth council鈥檚 decision to refuse the proposals was called in by City Hall.

But it was returned to planning limbo in February when the High Court allowed a judicial review of the approval brought by campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP), which argued the GLA had 鈥渕ade errors of law and planning policy鈥�.

SWP鈥檚 case hinged on the use of Metropolitan Open Land on the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club, which has the same protected status as green belt.

The GLA and the All England Club, where the Wimbledon championships are held, defended the approval and told the court that restrictions on the land were not 鈥渕aterial鈥�.

Dismissing the challenge on Monday, Justice Saini said: 鈥淚n short, the defendant鈥檚 decision on the relevance of deliverability, applying to both the statutory trust and the restrictive covenants, was a planning judgment rationally exercised and having regard to appropriate and relevant factors.鈥�

Deborah Jevans, chair of the All England club, said she was 鈥渄elighted鈥� with the ruling, which paves the way for the biggest expansion in the club鈥檚 history and would allow qualifying rounds to be held at Wimbledon, the only grand slam which is unable to do so on its own grounds.

鈥淚t is clear that we have a robust planning permission that enables us to create a permanent home for the Wimbledon qualifying competition as well as delivering 27 acres of beautiful new parkland for local people, providing public access to land that has been a private golf course for over 100 years.鈥�

But SWP director Christopher Coombe said the judgment would 鈥渟et a worrying precedent for the unwanted development of protected green belt and public open spaces around London and across the country鈥�.

SWP said it had been advised that it should seek to challenge the decision, and has maintained its argument that the GLA made a 鈥渟ignificant legal error in the way it dealt with the special legal status of the park鈥�.

Coombe added: 鈥淭he [All England club] will surely have noted the considerable public outrage about this development, most recently expressed outside the law courts, and we continue to hope that they could be persuaded to engage constructively with us, with a view to achieving a resolution of this four-year-old dispute.鈥�

London mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed the ruling and said the expansion plans would 鈥渃ement Wimbledon鈥檚 reputation as the greatest tennis competition in the world and London as the sporting capital of the world鈥�.

鈥淭his scheme will bring a significant range of economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits to the local area, the wider capital and the UK economy, creating new jobs and green spaces,鈥� he added.

However, separate High Court proceedings on whether the land earmarked for the expansion is subject to a statutory trust are ongoing, with a hearing on this case to be held in January 2026.

The All England Club acquired the former golf course from Merton council in 1993 and signed a covenant agreeing it would only use the land for leisure, recreational purposes or as open space.

Sasha White KC told the court that if a statutory trust on the land was found to exist, the club had accepted that this would be 鈥渋ncompatible with the development of the proposal鈥�.

Mark Westmoreland Smith KC, representing the GLA, said deputy London mayor Jules Pipe had approved the scheme on the assumption that the alleged trust and convenant existed.

The plans for the site also include seven new maintenance buildings and a pedestrian bridge crossing Wimbledon Park Lake, which would be altered and expanded with a de-culverted channel running through part of the parkland alongside the new tennis courts.