Following the decision by the GLA on September 27 to allow planning to proceed on the heritage parkland, the campaign group, first established in 2021, has now set up a company limited by guarantee Save Wimbledon Park Limited ("SWP”) to progress any future legal action that may be advised.
The new company has instructed the Putney-based firm of Solicitors, Russell-Cooke, with whom the campaign group has been working for a number of years, to advise on its legal strategy for challenging the proposed AELTC development.
In the meantime, completion of the section 106 Agreement is believed to be imminent. This Agreement, when finalised, and the planning permission itself, will set out conditions and restrictions to regulate how the permission may be implemented. In theory, the AELTC could start enabling works (such as tree clearance) as soon as the Agreement is completed. However, the 1993 restrictive covenants remain firmly in place. They were agreed at the time by both Merton Council and AELTC to prevent just this sort of proposed development and use, for example the erection of buildings and any non-recreational use.
Merton Council, which holds the benefit of the covenants on behalf of both Merton and Wandsworth residents, has publicly stated that it is "free to decide whether it believes that sacrificing the openness of the land, and thereby defeating the purpose of the covenants, would be in the long-term interests of the locality". The Wimbledon Society, on behalf of SWP, has pointed out to Merton that this is misleading, and that Merton is under a duty as statutory trustee of the public park to uphold the interests of the local community when deciding whether or not to release the covenants. Merton has declined even to acknowledge that it is so constrained.
Save Wimbledon Park Limited, Registered in England with Company Number 16071431 Registered Office 2 Putney Hill London SW15