Wimbledon tennis expansion gets green light amid London green space fears

Green spaces across London could be under threat after plans to expand Wimbledon's tennis facilities were approved, the local MP has said.

Merton Council voted in favour of plans to triple the size of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in a planning meeting on Thursday night lasting around five hours.

The plans would see 38 new courts, including a new show court, built across the AELTC's site in south-west London, with most of the new facilities being built on the neighbouring Wimbledon Park.

Stephen Hammond, Conservative MP for Wimbledon, said building on the park "pretty much contravenes every recommendation" on Metropolitan Open Land – a form of protection that treats green spaces in London in a similar way to the green belt.

A birds eye view of how the Wimbledon Tennis Club could look by 2028. Picture: AELTC

He said: "If you read the officers' report, there's a whole chunk of it, which effectively says this offends every planning policy and then says because there are very special circumstances we're going to let it through."

In a 450-page report, Merton Council's planning officers concluded the development would be "inappropriate" and cause "physical harm" to the Metropolitan Open Land.

But the authority said this was outweighed by the "very substantial public benefits" of the proposal and these benefits constituted "very special circumstances" justifying development on protected land.

Those benefits included the impact on employment and the local economy, ecology and biodiversity enhancement, and improved access to sport and recreation facilities provided as part of the development.

Mr Hammond said the decision meant "no park or green space in Merton really can ever be assured of protection again, that's also true for London".

He added: "There's nothing to stop every developer pointing to this case and saying you can build on Metropolitan Open Land in London.

"You can see another developer saying 'I'm building you a lovely new community sports stadium, but I need to put 50 flats by the side of it to justify it', you can see those sorts of applications potentially coming in as a result of this."

The AELTC's proposals will now be reviewed by the Mayor of London due to the development taking place on Metropolitan Open Land.

There may also be further stages before the facilities can be built including, potentially, a call-in by communities secretary Michael Gove or a judicial review by local residents opposed to the scheme.

A spokesperson for the London Borough of Merton said: "After considering the officer's report, relevant submissions, and the relevant planning framework, the independent planning committee, made up of councillors from all parties, voted to approve the application made by the All England Lawn Tennis Ground (AELTG) for expansion of its site at Wimbledon.

"There are further stages in the planning process and the land remains subject to covenants contained in the transfer of 1993 from the council to AELTG.

"Until these covenants are properly addressed by AELTG they operate to restrict the use and development of the land as proposed in the planning application."