UPDATED Save Wimbledon Park has won the right to take its challenge of the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s expansion plans to the Court of Appeal, escalating a legal battle that could determine the future of the former public parkland.
The Court of Appeal granted permission on Tuesday for residents to challenge July’s High Court decision that upheld planning permission for 39 new grass courts on what was Wimbledon Park Golf Club – a significant part of the Wimbledon Park Estate Heritage Parkland.
The Rt Hon Lord Justice Holgate said “the grounds of appeal are arguable with a real prospect of success,” adding that “the case law on scheme benefits, deliverability, relevance, material considerations and irrationality merits review by the Court of Appeal.”
The decision marks the latest chapter in what Save Wimbledon Park characterizes as a “David and Goliath struggle” over land controversially sold by Merton Council in 1993, and which the campaign group says remains protected by statutory trusts for public recreation.
Three parallel legal challenges
The Court of Appeal permission is the first of three legal obstacles – what SWP calls “triple jeopardy” – facing the tennis club’s development plans.
In January, the High Court will hear a separate case on whether the land is subject to a statutory trust that protects it for public access and recreation. The AELTC argues the golf course has been largely inaccessible to the public for more than a century and is not subject to such restrictions.
A third potential challenge involves restrictive covenants made when the AELTC acquired the land from Merton Council. SWP says the club “formally covenanted in 1993, when acquiring the underlying title from the London Borough of Merton at a knock down price, that it would never build on the land.”
The AELTC concedes that if the statutory trust is found to cover the land, the proposed development cannot proceed – making January’s High Court case potentially decisive.
Amendment 250 controversy
The legal developments come after controversy earlier this month when an attempt was made in the House of Lords to amend the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Amendment 250 would have retrospectively changed the law to remove the statutory trust over the land, effectively making January’s court case irrelevant.
The amendment was proposed without consultation with stakeholders or notice to Save Wimbledon Park. When peers from all political parties spoke against it, the amendment was withdrawn.
Paul Kohler, Wimbledon’s MP, had accused the AELTC of acting in “bad faith” by pursuing the legislative change while publicly offering to meet with the community.
SWP sees the amendment attempt as significant. “We are highly critical of AELTC’s tactics but encouraged by the clear implication that AELTC itself believes it will lose the statutory trust case in January,” a spokesman said.
Club remains confident
The All England Club said its plans would not be affected by the Court of Appeal decision.
“We are confident that the Court of Appeal will ultimately judge that the High Court made the correct decision in upholding the Greater London Authority’s grant of planning permission for a development that will enable us to deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the company said.
“Our plans will create a permanent home for the Wimbledon Qualifying Competition but crucially they also deliver 27 acres of beautiful new parkland for local people to enjoy, providing the public access to green space that has been used as a private members golf club for more than 100 years.
“We have spoken to more than 10,000 people who have taken the time to come in person and understand our plans in detail. The vast majority of people just want us to get on and deliver the many benefits on offer as soon as possible.”
The site continues to sit unused and overgrown behind security fences while the legal battles continue. Planning permission was granted in September by Jules Pipe, London’s deputy mayor, almost four and a half years after the AELTC first announced its expansion plans.
Residents call for dialogue
Christopher Coombe of Save Wimbledon Park said the group has “never been anti-tennis” and called for constructive talks.
“We believe that it is high time for the AELTC to recognise the raft of legal and principled problems with its proposals and sit down and talk constructively with SWP and the local community,” he said. “Flexibility and imagination will produce a better scheme both in the public interest and which provides the AELTC with the financial and commercial benefits it seeks than the one they keep trying to force through regardless of the legal barriers.”
He added: “This is a David and Goliath struggle. The AELTC is a rich and well-connected corporate developer which has worked for decades to take over a substantial part of this highly protected public Park for its own purposes. It has been tireless in its attempts to brush aside the legal protections.”
With both sides claiming to want to find a constructive solution to the battle, there is hope that it will be resolved in a way that works for the club, for local residents and lovers of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Whether those talks begin in earnest before final legal judgments come down – allowing for rapid agreement and progress – or whether they only begin once the issue is legally decided, we will have to wait and see.
The judicial review heard during this year’s Championships was dismissed by the High Court on July 21, but the Court of Appeal has now determined that the case merits further scrutiny. A hearing date has not yet been set.
The January statutory trust case and the potential restrictive covenants challenge mean the former golf course is likely to remain undeveloped for the foreseeable future, regardless of the Court of Appeal’s eventual decision on the planning permission.
Update 10am: AELTC’s response has been added to the story.
