Wimbledon’s expansion plans boosted when judge dismisses legal challenge

LONDON (AP) — Wimbledon’s expansion plans, which would almost triple the size of the tennis tournament grounds, received a boost Monday when a judge dismissed a campaign group's legal challenge.

The Save Wimbledon Park group took legal action against the Greater London Authority's decision to grant planning permission last year.

Aside from concerns about the environment and overall scale, opponents argued that the adjacent property that was a golf course when the All England Club bought it in 2018 is subject to restrictions that favor preservation of open spaces for the public.

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Wimbledon's plan includes adding an 8,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof and 38 other grass courts that would allow the All England Club to move its qualifying event on-site to boost attendance and revenue.

"In short, the defendant's decision on the relevance of deliverability, applying to both the statutory trust and the restrictive covenants, was a planning judgment rationally exercised and having regard to appropriate and relevant factors," judge Justice Saini said.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament that holds its qualifying rounds at a completely separate location. There are also too few practice courts in the current setup, requiring some of the world's best players to share courts.

"We are delighted that Mr. Justice Saini has dismissed the challenge to the GLA's decision to grant planning permission for our plans to transform the former Wimbledon Park golf course," said Deborah Jevans, chair of the All England Club.

"It is clear that we have a robust planning permission that enables us to create a permanent home for the Wimbledon qualifying competition as well as delivering 27 acres of beautiful new park land for local people, providing public access to land that has been a private golf course for over 100 years," Jevans added.

The next hurdle in the process is a hearing in January over whether there is a statutory trust over the former golf course land.