Judge grants second challenge

A campaign group has been given the green light to take a second legal battle over the expansion of the Wimbledon tennis site to the Court of Appeal.

Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) brought High Court legal action against the All England Club (AELTC) over the expansion on the land of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club, claiming that it was subject to a statutory trust under a 150-year-old law which restricted its use.

In March, Mr Justice Thompsell ruled the land was "unencumbered by any statutory trust", but the Court of Appeal has granted SWP permission to challenge the ruling.

The order states that the appeal would last about three days, with SWP saying the hearing is expected to be held in 2027.

In a court order, Lord Justice Newey said: "The arguments advanced by the appellant have sufficient substance for the appeal to have a real prospect of success."

SWP said the AELTC "has been saying in public and to their members that proceeding with their plans was a forgone conclusion", but the Court of Appeal's decision showed this to be "wishful thinking".

A spokesperson for the AELTC said the decision was "disappointing news", but it was "confident that the Court of Appeal would 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".

They said: "The 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.

"It is firmly in the public and local community's interest that the scheme is delivered in full."

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 "for the purpose of being used as public walks or pleasure grounds" and therefore the development could not go ahead.

Lawyers for the AELTC said the land was never subject to a trust and, if it was, it did not survive the club's 1993 purchase of the freehold.

Mr Justice Thompsell found that the land "never became the subject of a statutory trust", and that even if this was wrong, the land was "never used or laid out for public recreation".

The plans would 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.

Seven maintenance buildings, access points and an area of parkland with permissible public access are also planned, along with work on Wimbledon Lake.

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.

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