Wimbledon chiefs say more of planned expansion will be public parkland

Plans to expand the site of the annual Wimbledon tennis championships will include more public parkland, officials said on Thursday.

In November, Wandsworth councillors voted unanimously to snub the proposal for 39 new courts in Wimbledon Park, which borders the All England Club in south-west London.

The seven councillors acted on the advice of their planning chiefs despite Merton Council, in which the majority of the tournament site is located, giving their approval to the proposal.

The application has since been referred to the Mayor of London's office and the All England Club, which owns the Wimbledon site and runs the grass-court Grand Slam, remains hopeful it will still be given the green light despite fierce resistance from some local residents.

A key plank of Wimbledon's pitch to those residents has been the provision of public parkland, with the All England Club saying on Thursday an extra four acres had been added to the northern part of the site, increasing the total to 27 acres.

MORE GREEN SPACE FOR LONDONERS

All England Club chair Debbie Jevans said: "I am delighted that, following the many thousands of conversations we have had with local people about our plans, and working with the Greater London Authority, we are now able to propose even more green space for Londoners to enjoy, on land that has been inaccessible to the public for more than 100 years.

"We continue to be committed to delivering significant social and environmental improvements, as well as creating hundreds of jobs and generating millions of pounds in economic benefits."

The application from the grass-court Grand Slam included an 8 000-capacity show court on land previously occupied by Wimbledon golf course.

Wimbledon officials hope the project will enable the qualifying competition to be held on site.

That would be in line with the other three Grand Slams, with Wimbledon's qualifying event held over three miles away in Roehampton at present.

But delays in gaining administrative approval mean an initial target to have the project completed by 2030 is set to be pushed back.

The All England Club's statement added: "We look forward to confirmation of a date for a public hearing on our applications in the coming months."