Save Wimbledon Park will ask the Court of Appeal today to overturn permission for the All England Club to build on Wimbledon Park golf course, arguing the Mayor of London should have weighed whether the scheme could legally go ahead. The hearing starts at 10.30am in Court 63 at the Royal Courts of Justice, and is open to the public and live streamed.
Behind the legal argument is a fight over the old golf course. The All England Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, says it has outgrown its grounds. Its qualifying tournament is played off-site at Roehampton, while, the Club says, every other Grand Slam holds qualifying at its main venue. It wants an 8,000-seat covered show court and 38 new tennis courts on the course across the road, a site about the size of 50 football pitches.
Many people living nearby strongly oppose the scheme. The course is part of a historic landscape laid out by Capability Brown, beside the public park and lake, and thousands have objected to the plans. The tennis club has refused to compromise on its plans and local residents have refused to back down, leading to a series of protests and legal battles. “Love tennis, hate concrete” and “No stadium in our park” are just two of the many signs that have been flourished by frustrated locals. The Club says it would open about 27 acres of new public parkland on what has long been a private golf course.
Why it has ended up in court
Because the land is so heavily protected, the fight turns on the law. It is Metropolitan Open Land, protected like Green Belt, so the Club had to show a need strong enough to justify building there. Save Wimbledon Park says that need cannot be met if the land carries a public trust, a legal duty to keep it open for recreation. It also points to covenants agreed when Merton sold the land in 1993, requiring it to stay open and unbuilt.
So, the group argues, the Mayor of London’s deputy acted irrationally in granting permission in November 2024 without weighing whether the scheme could be built. The Mayor and the Club argued in the High Court that this did not have to be weighed. The judge agreed, and rejected all three of the group’s arguments in July 2025.
The Mayor’s own barrister, Timothy Morshead KC, advised before the decision that there was a trust. Officers were less sure, so permission was granted assuming one exists. The Club accepts its plans are incompatible with a public trust, but says there is none, and that legal routes exist to remove the covenants.
In March the High Court agreed with the Club, finding no public recreation trust over the land. Save Wimbledon Park is appealing that ruling too, with a hearing due by July 2027. It asked for today’s hearing to wait for that result. It says the Mayor and the Club opposed that, and the court refused.
So today’s judges will not decide whether the trust exists. But Lord Justice Holgate, who gave permission for this appeal in November 2025, sits on today’s bench. He asked to hear what difference a trust would make if one does exist, so the question may still come up. Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Dingemans complete the bench.
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Is the planning permission lawful? Court of Appeal, today
- The permission
- Granted in November 2024 by the Mayor of London’s deputy, for an 8,000-seat stadium and 38 new tennis courts.
- Where it stands
- The High Court upheld it in July 2025. The Court of Appeal hears Save Wimbledon Park’s challenge from 7 October.
- Save Wimbledon Park says
- It was irrational to grant permission without weighing whether the scheme could be built. The case for building on protected Metropolitan Open Land rested on a need the scheme cannot meet if the trust applies.
- The Mayor and the Club argued
- That whether it could be built did not have to be weighed. That was their case in the High Court.
- If Save Wimbledon Park wins
- It says the permission would be quashed and the Greater London Authority asked to consider the application again.
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Is the land held on a public trust? Court of Appeal, by July 2027
- The trust
- A legal duty to keep land open for public recreation.
- Where it stands
- The High Court found no trust in March 2026. Save Wimbledon Park has permission to appeal, with a hearing due by 15 July 2027.
- Agreed by both sides
- The Club’s plans are incompatible with a public trust, if one exists.
- Disputed
- Save Wimbledon Park says the trust exists. The Club says it does not.
- At today’s hearing
- Lord Justice Holgate said the court may be helped by argument on what the trust would mean, if it applies. Whether it exists is for the separate appeal.
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Do the 1993 covenants stand in the way? Not before a court
- The covenants
- Legal promises made when Merton Council sold the land in 1993, to keep it open and free of built development.
- Where it stands
- Not in dispute: the covenants exist. Neither court case is deciding whether they can be removed.
- The Club says
- Legal routes exist to remove them.
- Save Wimbledon Park says
- The Mayor gave the covenants no weight, which was irrational.
Planning permission says a scheme is acceptable as a use of land. As the High Court put it, permission “does not over-ride” existing property or statutory rights, so it does not clear a trust or a covenant by itself.
Today’s question is narrower: whether the Mayor’s deputy had to weigh those obstacles before granting it. It is being heard before the trust appeal.
What happens next
If Save Wimbledon Park wins, it says the permission would be quashed and the Greater London Authority asked to consider the application again. If it loses, the permission stands, and the trust appeal and the covenants remain.
The group says the hearing may run into Thursday, and expects a ruling within about three months. Anyone can watch on the live stream or in court on the Strand, where the group says an overflow room, Court 70, has been set aside.
Parliament has also given ministers a power to free land from public trusts like this one, but it has not been switched on since it became law in April.
For the Club, the case is about the future of the Championships. It said in November 2025 that it was confident the Court of Appeal would agree with the High Court. For Save Wimbledon Park, it is about a green space on its doorstep, which the group says it still has a strong case to protect.
