Wimbledon residents boo and shout ‘shame on you’ as expansion plan given green light

Objectors to Wimbledon’s controversial expansion shouted “shame on you” and may now seek a judicial review after the London Mayor’s office granted planning permission in the face of stiff local opposition.

While the All England Club’s representatives were jubilant at the news, which gives them the right to build 39 new grass courts on neighbouring Wimbledon Park Golf Club, the protesters said they could expect further challenges.

“We’ve got at least two avenues open to us,” resident Simon Wright told Telegraph Sport. “There’s the AELTC’s own legal opinion, which says the land should have been held in trust for the benefit of residents. And there is the covenant that exists on the land, which was issued by Merton Council in 1993, and which, if enacted, would prevent any building on any part of the park.”

The Save Wimbledon Park campaign – which gathered more than 20,000 signatures – comprises dozens of local lawyers as well as several showbusiness figures including 99-year-old former Coronation Street actress Thelma Ruby. The movement’s unofficial communications man is Jonathan Morrish, formerly Michael Jackson’s press agent and a senior executive at Sony.

Planning permission was granted on Friday afternoon by Jules Pipe, the deputy London Mayor, who stepped in after Sadiq Khan recused himself. There were a few scattered boos in City Hall, as well as shouts of “Shame on you” from the balcony.

On the eve of the hearing, it had seemed as though the decision might be referred to housing secretary Angela Rayner, whose department issued a so-called “holding notice” earlier this week on the grounds that she needed time to consider her position. But the holding notice was dropped on Friday morning, after Rayner had written to the Wimbledon Society to say that she does not plan to call in the proposals after all.

The AELTC’s proposals were the subject of three hours of passionate debate at City Hall. During this “representation hearing”, Pipe appeared surprised by the extent of the disagreement between the pro and anti camps, especially on environmental grounds. The objectors spoke of “an ecological desert”, which will be “a dust bowl” during dry weather and “a mudbath” when it rains.

But David Mooney, chief executive of the London Wildlife Trust, told Pipe that he backed the scheme.

“It’s quite evident there is ecological enhancement,” Mooney said. “The golf course is pretty dead, from an environmental perspective. The proposed scheme offers access to nature in the southern part of the site via boardwalks around the lake, which is something we consider of real value.”

This debate has been in motion since the AELTC submitted their original plans – which have since been amended by the addition of 1.7 hectares of extra parkland at the north end of the site – in 2021.

During an SWP meeting on Monday, retired local lawyer Christopher Coombe predicted there will be many more phases before the case is decided. “We are just entering the third-set tie-break, and have plenty of aces to serve,” said Coombe. “The fourth set is the Secretary of State and the fifth the courts. We are in it for the long haul.”

The objectors are now expected to call for a judicial review – a process which must be initiated in the next six weeks. The focus would be the covenant that former AELTC chair John Curry agreed with Merton Council in 1993. In buying up the Wimbledon Park Golf Club lease from 2041 onwards – a date which was then brought forward by a £65 million payment to members in 2018 – Curry promised not to build on the land.

There is also the possibility that residents could appeal to the Supreme Court, which overturned planning permission for a housing development in Shropshire last year on the grounds that the land was held in a statutory trust for local residents.

The members of SWP are both determined and well-heeled enough to extend the battle for months to come, even if it will become increasingly expensive to bring the legal challenges.

In the meantime, though, the AELTC can celebrate a significant victory. According to club chair Debbie Jevans, the project will “make sure that London remains the undisputed sporting capital of the world.”