When in September 2024 the GLA decided to approve the plans of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to develop Wimbledon Park, the Save Wimbledon Park campaign was convinced that this was the wrong decision. Expert advice from leading barristers and solicitors has confirmed and strengthened that view, and the SWP company has now been formed to take further action.
SWP considers that the GLA’s decision was wrong in law because it failed:
to take into account the implications of the statutory Public Recreation Trust and the restrictive covenants, both of which prevent the proposed development.
to acknowledge that the heritage golf course is environmentally protected as an “irreplaceable habitat”, whose development should be refused under planning policy.
to appreciate that the offers to continue to fund the Wimbledon Foundation or the Lawn Tennis Association, while socially responsible, are irrelevant in the planning process.
to publish important background papers relied on by their officers’ report.
to note that the recent planting on the golf course amounted to deliberate damage to the heritage asset: its proposed removal should be ignored for planning purposes.
to appreciate that the proposed private tennis entertainment complex was not an “alternative sports and recreational provision” as required by planning policy.
SWP has instructed Russell-Cooke Solicitors to challenge the validity of the GLA's decision via a Judicial Review (JR). They have sent a lengthy formal letter setting out our case to the GLA, copied to both Merton and Wandsworth Councils and to the AELTC. Legal proceedings may follow.
The AELTC will need to think again, and we will continue to press them.
There are still the important 1993 restrictive covenants. The sale of the freehold of the golf course to the AELTC was pushed through by Merton against enormous local opposition. Merton, and most importantly the AELTC, gave binding promises that the golf course would never be developed. Although the covenants have been dismissed by AELTC and Merton Council as “not a planning issue”, our objection raises independent legal rights and issues which we can also pursue, regarding both the statutory public recreation trust and the restrictive covenants.
Save Wimbledon Park Ltd 11 December 2024
Save Wimbledon Park Ltd, Registered in England 16071431, 2 Putney Hill (Russell-Cooke) SW15 6AB