Wimbledon residents plan to stage a protest in an attempt to block the All England Club’s “Disneyland” style expansion plans.
On Tuesday, around 250 residents attended a meeting at St Barnabas Church in Earlsfield, where they voiced their anger about the AELTC’s planned development, with one resident accusing the club of wanting to “build a Disneyland”.
The plans include 38 new tennis courts and one 8,000-seater show court built on the 73-acre Wimbledon Park Golf Club site, which the AELTC bought back the freehold to five years ago. The AELTC also hopes to build a tunnel to run under Church Road to connect the new area to its existing site.
Residents have moved from disgruntled to downright furious with the handling of the process, saying the club failed to adequately consult with them. Some accused club representatives of “lying” about the extent of the development during the more than 50 guided tours the AELTC hosted for residents around the grounds – an assertion the AELTC strongly disagrees with.
The AELTC declined an invitation to Tuesday night’s meeting and were empty-chaired by organisers, who placed a tennis racket with a post-it note tag saying “AELTC” on stage instead.
Such is the frustration among residents that they plan to stage a protest at an upcoming crucial planning permission meeting, in which a committee for Merton and Wandsworth Councils will decide the fate of the AELTC’s £200 million project.
The “Save Wimbledon Park” campaign has now amassed almost 12,500 signatures on an online petition.
This is the time for community activism’
Fleur Anderson and Stephen Hammond – who are respectively the Labour MP for Putney and the Conservative MP for Wimbledon – have both opposed the plans over the past year, and both spoke in favour of community activism at Tuesday’s public meeting.
Anderson said public campaigns can make a difference – pointing to the Battersea residents who forced Formula E bosses to abandon hosting further races in their local park after staging a protest at the inaugural event in 2016.
During his speech, Hammond said: “This is the time for community activism.”
A resolution to the issue depends on the all-important council meeting, which had been due to take place on Wednesday but was delayed again. There are fears it may not happen until the new year at this stage.
The AELTC first submitted their planning application in July 2021, and have outlined a number of ecological benefits their development will bring to the area, as well as permanent public access to a section of the park
The club originally hoped to receive planning permission by the end of 2021, when the golf course closed.
However, nearly two years on, the meeting date for Merton and Wandsworth Council keeps getting pushed back. As the site is positioned within both boroughs, both councils need to approve the club’s plans in order for the development to get the green light.