Wimbledon’s expansion plans are being challenged at the Court of Appeal

A legal battle over plans to almost triple the size of Wimbledon’s tennis court is set to be taken to the Court of Appeal by local campaigners.

In September 2024, plans were approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) for the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to build 38 tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium at the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club in West London.

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) said they were pleased they could appeal, describing their challenge as “a battle of David and Goliath”.

AELTC said the plans will “create a permanent home for the Wimbledon qualifier and deliver 27 hectares of beautiful new parkland”.

In July SWPs High Court legal action against the GLA about its decision to grant planning permission for the extension was rejected.

At that hearing, lawyers for SWP told the court that the decision to approve the plans was “irrational” and should be quashed.

They claimed that Wimbledon Park – a Grade II listed heritage site designed in part by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown – was covered by trusts and covenants that governed how it could be used.

SWP said after the ruling that it believed the judge “did not take sufficient account of the statutory trust and the restrictive covenants”.

Separate proceedings are now underway in the High Court over whether there was a legal trust, and a hearing in that case will take place in January 2026.

SWP said granting an appeal showed that “the community and SWP cannot be steamrolled”.

SWP’s Christopher Coombe said: “SWP has never been anti-tennis. We believe it is high time the AELTC recognized the range of legal and principled problems with its proposals and started talking constructively with SWP and the local community.”

AELTC said they were “confident that the Court of Appeal would ultimately find that the High Court had made the correct decision in upholding the GLA’s grant of planning permission”.

The club said the plans would provide “27 hectares of beautiful new parkland for local people to enjoy, giving the public access to the green space that has been used as a private members golf club for over 100 years”.

A spokesperson for the GLA said: “The Mayor believes that this plan will deliver a significant number of benefits, including environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits for the local area, the wider capital and the UK economy.

“It will create new courts and public green spaces and enhance Wimbledon’s reputation as the greatest tennis competition in the world.”

Because the legal proceedings are still ongoing, the company cannot comment further.

A date for the appeal hearing, which will take place in two days, has yet to be confirmed.