Plans to expand Wimbledon can go ahead, judge rules

Plans to almost triple the size of the Wimbledon tennis site are set to proceed after a campaign group’s legal challenge against the decision to grant planning permission was dismissed by a High Court judge.

Campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) had taken legal action against the Greater London Authority (GLA) over its decision last year to approve the plans.

SWP had argued in court the proposal for 38 courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club in west London was unlawful as the proposed land was protected.

The GLA and All England Club disputed that the restrictions exist, and in a ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Saini dismissed the challenge.

Barristers for SWP told the High Court earlier this month that the decision to approve the plans was “irrational” and should be quashed, as Wimbledon Park – a Grade II*-listed 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 challenge, with the court told that the decision was a “planning judgment properly exercised” and that the restrictions were not “material”.

Mr Justice Saini said: “In short, the defendant’s 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.”

The proposals would see seven maintenance buildings, access points, and an area of parkland with permissive public access constructed, in addition to the courts and associated infrastructure.

It would also allow the club to host Wimbledon qualifiers on site.