The All England Club's plans to expand the Wimbledon tennis site have encountered a new legal hurdle, with a High Court hearing examining whether a 150-year-old law restricts the use of the land earmarked for development.
Campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) argues that the land, formerly the Wimbledon Park Golf Club, is subject to a statutory trust under the Public Health Act 1875, requiring it to be used as public walks or pleasure grounds. The group claims this trust existed when the land changed hands in the 1960s and when the club purchased the freehold in 1993.
The All England Club, which plans to build 38 tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the site, contends that the land was never subject to a trust. Barrister Jonathan Karas KC argued that the golf course land has always been treated as private property and was never laid out as a public park.
The dispute is the second legal challenge against the expansion, which was approved by the Greater London Authority in 2024. SWP lost a previous challenge but has been granted permission to appeal, with that hearing expected later this year.
The hearing before Mr Justice Thompsell is due to conclude on January 23.
