City Hall has stepped in to decide whether Wimbledon’s £200million expansion plan can go ahead after the Mayor of London’s office decided to ‘call in’ the proposal.
The All England Tennis and Croquet Club is proposing 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seater show court on the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course site.
The site spans the boroughs of both Merton and Wandsworth Council. Merton’s planning committee approved the plans while Wandsworth rejected them, with those decisions having in turn been referred to City Hall.
Mayor Sadiq Khan had already recused himself from the decision-making process back in October 2023, leaving it in the hands of deputy mayor of planning Jules Pipe.
And following a meeting on Monday afternoon, he decided to call in the planning application, with a date now to be set for a full planning hearing.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “This a major planning application of London-wide significance. Therefore, the deputy mayor has issued a direction under article 7 of the town and country planning (Mayor of London) order that he becomes the local planning authority for purposes of determining the application. A full planning hearing will be held in due course.”
The AELTC say they have received overwhelming support from locals for the project with chair Debbie Jevans saying it was vital to “secure the long-term future of the championships”.
Jevans said: "We welcome today’s news that the Mayor of London’s office will determine our application to transform the former private Wimbledon Park Golf Course.
"Our proposals will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since the 2012 Olympics. Protecting the future of the championships, as well as significantly increasing publicly accessible green space, is a win-win for Londoners and will demonstrate beyond doubt that London is the sporting capital of the world."
But there has been a growing dissent group made up of residents, environmental groups and local MPs Stephen Hammond and Fleur Anderson, who described it as a “battle for the future of London” and said that allowing it to go ahead “would set a dangerous precedent”.
Following Monday's decision, Anderson said: "The plans as they currently stand are bad for public access to green space, Londoner's lungs and our environment. The GLA is a world-leading local authority when it comes to putting Londoners' health and environment first. I hope that they will tell Wimbledon tennis they need to go back to the drawing board."
Meanwhile, Iain Simpson, chair of Save Wimbledon Park, said: “Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) is glad to see the GLA’s decision to review this application. SWP have been fighting this application since it was made three years ago.
"We have been urging the AELTC to speak to us, their local communities: it is time for them to think again. Scale this project to meet national policies and their own promises and stop wasting money on an unwelcome and unnecessary project for a private members’ club."
