Iain Simpson, Chair, Save Wimbledon Park, said:
“AELTC’s proposed minor modifications are extremely disappointing and change nothing. The area will still become exactly what we have feared all along – a huge industrial tennis complex, breaking the covenants they agreed when they bought. And for what is such an enormous development on protected land, the AELTC continue to fail to justify their specific needs for expansion. Wandsworth unanimously rejected the application for this very reason.
These tiny amendments are an insult to the community AELTC claim to be part of. The park will still be used for set up and take down through the key summer months and public access will still be ‘permissive'. This means that they can close it at any time, denying access to important open green space intended for people’s recreation and well-being.
The application, as it stands, would overturn all of the excellent promises that the mayor and assembly members have made only recently to preserve London’s open green spaces and their work to make our air cleaner, particularly around schools. This is a city wide issue and we continue to campaign on behalf of all Londoners."