Wimbledon expansion: Key judicial review set for during grand slam
Wimbledon will face a crunch judicial review on their plans to expand their Championships tennis site during this year’s grand slam.
Speaking ahead of this year’s SW19 tournament, which gets underway on 30 June, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club chair Deborah Jevans said the Greater London Authority decision to grant planning permission to a major expansion across the road at the local golf course will take place in early July.
The expansion, if successful, will include a new show court, to go with Centre Court and No1 Court, and enough courts to allow for the pre-Wimbledon qualifying event to take place on site – in a similar situation to the other three grand slams.
The AELTC insist this will allow fans to have better access to the earlier qualifying, while the golf course land will be redeveloped with freely accessible parkland – something the organisation claim has been denied to local residents.
But the decision is a controversial one to some local residents and the judicial review is set to put this part of the process to bed.
“We all know the need to transform the former Wimbledon Golf Course in order to stage our qualifying competition on a permanent site, close to our main grounds, rather than on land that is leased from the Bank of England,” Jevans said.
“This becomes evermore apparent as we see our fellow grand slams staging fully integrated three-week events.
“A judicial review of the GLA [Greater London Authority] decision to grant planning permission will take place in the second week of this year’s Championships, on 8 and 9 July. And we expect a decision from the judge a few weeks after that.”
Wimbledon expansion full steam ahead?
But there is a second legal twist in Wimbledon’s bid to get spades in the ground, with AELTC chiefs beginning a legal process last year in a bid to see off opposition to the development relating to an obscure law about the land potentially being in a statutory trust.
The AELTC have been advised that the trust does not apply, but they’ve gone to court to remove it regardless.
“Another legal matter to resolve is the question of whether a statutory trust exists on the golf course land and this matter needs to be put before the court for a decision,” Jevans continued.
“We applied for our case to be heard through an expedited process and at a hearing this week we were pleased to have our application granted. As a result this hearing will take place in January 2026.
“There is so much to be realised from the opening of 27 acres of the golf course land that has never, ever been open to the public unless you paid to play golf.”