{"id":707327,"date":"2026-07-23T16:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/707327\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:06:28","slug":"campaigners-given-green-light-for-second-legal-challenge-against-wimbledon-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/707327\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaigners given green light for second legal challenge against Wimbledon expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The All England Tennis Club wants to build 38 new tennis courts and a stadium on a former golf course opposite the site<\/p>\n

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\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Aerial view of Wimbledon’s iconic tennis courts, nestled amidst lush greenery and juxtaposed with the urban landscape, creating a captivating contrast.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

A campaign group has been given the green light to launch a second legal battle over the expansion of the Wimbledon tennis site.\n<\/p>\n

Save Wimbledon<\/a> Park (SWP) brought High Court <\/a>legal action against the All England Club, the venue which hosts the annual tennis tournament, over its plans to expand onto the land of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club.<\/p>\n

The club was given planning permission in 2024 to build 38 new tennis courts and a 8,000 seater stadium on former golf course opposite the site, which it acquire the freehold of in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

The campaigners argued the land was subject to a statutory trust under a 150-year-old law which restricted its use.<\/p>\n

In March, Mr Justice Thompsell ruled the land was \u201cunencumbered by any statutory trust\u201d but the Court of Appeal<\/a> has granted SWP permission to challenge the ruling.<\/p>\n

Read more: How to get tickets for Wimbledon 2027<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: Kate presents Sinner with Wimbledon trophy at \u2018most special tournament\u2019 of year<\/a><\/p>\n

\"11th<\/p>\n

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) brought High Court legal action against the All England Club, the venue which hosts the annual tennis tournament, over its plans to expand onto the land of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

In a court order, Lord Justice Newey said: \u201cThe arguments advanced by the appellant have sufficient substance for the appeal to have a real prospect of success.”<\/p>\n

The order states that the appeal<\/a> is expected to last three days, with SWP saying the hearing is expected to be held in 2027.<\/p>\n

SWP said on Wednesday that the All England Club \u201chas been saying in public and to their members that proceeding with their plans was a foregone conclusion\u201d but the Court of Appeal\u2019s decision showed this to be \u201cwishful thinking\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the All England Club<\/a> said the decision was \u201cdisappointing news\u201d but it was \u201cconfident that the Court of Appeal will recognise the strength of the High Court ruling, which found by a wide margin that the golf course land had never been held under a statutory trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

They said: \u201cThe vast majority of local people simply want us to get on and deliver the significant community benefits on offer as soon as possible and they will naturally be disappointed that this decision will inevitably lead to further delays.<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

Demonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of a hearing between the All England Club and campaign group Save Wimbledon Park over whether a statutory trust exists over land earmarked.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is firmly in the public and local community\u2019s interest that the scheme is delivered in full.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barristers for SWP told the High Court in January that a statutory trust exists under the Public Health Act 1875, meaning the land must be used \u201cfor the purpose of being used as public walks or pleasure grounds\u201d and therefore the development could not go ahead.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the club said the land was never subject to a trust and, if it was, it did not survive the club\u2019s 1993 purchase of the freehold.<\/p>\n

Mr Justice Thompsell found that the land \u201cnever became the subject of a statutory trust\u201d, and that even if this was wrong, the land was \u201cnever used or laid out for public recreation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Tyra<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the club said the land was never subject to a trust and, if it was, it did not survive the club\u2019s 1993 purchase of the freehold.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The plans could see the construction of 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the land, enabling the club to host qualifying matches for the tournament.<\/p>\n

Seven maintenance buildings, access points and an area of parkland with permissible public access are also planned, along with work on Wimbledon Lake.<\/p>\n

The Greater London Authority granted planning permission for the expansion in 2024, a decision the High Court upheld last summer following a separate legal challenge by SWP.<\/p>\n

The Court of Appeal has also given the group the go-ahead to challenge that decision, which is yet to be heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The All England Tennis Club wants to build 38 new tennis courts and a stadium on a former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-707327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}