Huge Set Back for AELTC's Wimbledon Park Scheme
Wandsworth's planning team recommends rejection
A visualisation of the show court planned as part of the scheme. Picture: AELTC
November 14, 2023
Controversial plans by the All-England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to build new tennis facilities and a stadium on Wimbledon Park have received a major setback.
Planning officers at Wandsworth Council have prepared a report for councillors recommending that they reject the planning application. The planning committee is due to consider the scheme on 21 November after Merton’s equivalent body had given the green light to it earlier this month.
The proposal is for a 8,000 capacity show court and 38 grass tennis court on land which is currently a golf course and is spread across the borders of the two local authority areas.
The conclusions of the Wandsworth report were welcomed with delight by those campaigning against the plan including Putney MP Fleur Anderson. She said, “I am delighted that Wandsworth Council planning officers have recommended that the AELTC proposals for Wimbledon Park be refused.
“Wimbledon Park is protected, Grade II listed Metropolitan Open Land. This means that ‘very special circumstances’ must be proved for it to be built on.
“Wandsworth Council planning officers have not found that these ‘very special circumstances’ exist and so have recommended the plans be refused. The campaign continues. Our precious green space must be defended. But this is a very positive step in the right direction.”
In a statement responding to the report AELTC said, “We are surprised that planning officers at the London Borough of Wandsworth have recommended refusal of the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project, particularly after the London Borough of Merton resolved to approve the application following extensive analysis and debate both in their officers’ report and at the planning committee.
“We regret that Wandsworth’s officers have taken a different view but it is for councillors on the planning applications committee to make their own considered decision at the meeting at November 21.
“We firmly believe the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project will deliver substantial social, economic and environmental benefits including 23 acres of newly accessible green space alongside hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of pounds in economic benefits for our neighbours in Wandsworth, Merton and across London.”
The decisions made by both Wandsworth and Merton, even if they have reached different conclusions, will then need to be considered by the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority.
A public meeting on the scheme is taking place at St Michael’s Church, 71 Wimbledon Park Road, Southfields (SW18 5TT) on Tuesday 14 November at 7.30pm.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
