Wimbledon expansion plan hampered by neighborhood council

Unanimously, the seven members of the Wandsworth neighborhood council have rejected the plan to build 39 new courts at Wimbledon Park, in southwest London. In this they followed the recommendations of their town planning officials.

Last month, councilors in neighboring Merton, where most of the proposed site is to be located, approved the project. It is now up to London City Hall to decide for or against the construction of the new site, which some residents of the area are fiercely opposed to.

“We are of course disappointed with the decision of the London Borough of Wandsworth,” commented the managing director of the All England Club, Sally Bolton, in a statement, affirming that the project will bring “hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of pounds economic benefits for our neighbors in Wandsworth, Merton and across London.

The project also provides for the construction of a court with a capacity of 8.000 spectators on a plot of land previously occupied by a golf course. This extension would allow the qualifying phase for Wimbledon, which is currently being held in Roehampton, more than 5 km away, to take place at the same location as the tournament itself, as is the case for the three other Grand Slam events.