Row erupts over plan to expand world’s greatest tennis tournament

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Wimbledon residents fear lorries will cause traffic chaos in their neighbourhood as its famous tennis club plans to expand.

A group of residents have outlined their concerns in a letter to the council’s planning department.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has submitted plans to expand into the neighbouring Wimbledon Park Golf Club in plans that would span 67 hectares between Wimbledon and Wandsworth.

Earlier this year it uploaded a series of new documents to the plans.

The Wimbledon Society fears there will be a “substantial increase” in construction traffic.

This is in part due to the more than 54,000 cubic metres of soil which has to be removed from the site.

In a letter, the Wimbledon Society said: “We believe the environmental impact of the soil movements and substantial increase in construction traffic has been dramatically underestimated by the planning documents.

“This serious underestimate casts doubt on the proposed timetable, as well as its environmental figures and calculations in this complex application.

“Without further clarity, the application should be rejected or withdrawn and further amended.”

AELTC estimates there would be just over 4,700 lorry movements for the project.

If approved, the plans, submitted to both Merton and Wandsworth councils, in 2021, could increase the daily capacity of the annual tennis tournament from 42,000 to 50,000 a day.

The plans include creating a route around Wimbledon Park Lake and a pedestrian link between Wimbledon Park railway station and Wimbledon Village.

A spokesperson for the club said the AELTC was still reviewing the contents of the letter from The Wimbledon Society.

They said: “The AELTC Wimbledon Park Project proposals were designed with two core objectives in mind: to maintain The Championships at the pinnacle of tennis and to provide substantial public benefit to our local community.

“Therefore, central to our proposals is the creation of a new 9.4-hectare park that will open to the public previously private land, as well as a new boardwalk around Wimbledon Park Lake.

“We believe these benefits, alongside others such as an increase in biodiversity of the site and the planting of 1,500 trees, will provide a lasting legacy for our community to enjoy for years to come.”

People in the Wimbedon Park queue to get into Wimbledon (Picture: PA)