The most talked-about tournament in tennis may be over for another year. But Wimbledon is still a word that’s very much on plenty of people’s lips, as the potential expansion of the legendary tennis site has just taken a giant step lob in the right direction.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club has proposed plans to significantly scale up the size of its site. The rather hefty expansion would see 39 new courts constructed, and an 8000-seater stadium built. The plans were given the green light last year by Jules Pipe (Deputy Mayor of London for Planning), who said that the benefits of the expansion would ‘clearly outweigh’ the harm. But campaigners from Save Wimbledon Park were not so on board with the idea.
A legal bid was launched to stop the £200 million expansion from going ahead as concerns were raised regarding damage to the park‘s biodiversity, construction traffic, and air pollution levels. But following a High Court ruling this week that saw Mr Justice Saini dismiss the challenges; it’s looking likely that the development will go ahead.
The Wimbledon Championships currently cannot accommodate nearly as many visitors as other Grand Slam tournaments. The proposed expansion plans would see the size of the site almost tripled, allowing for the daily spectator capacity to be increased from 42,000 to 50,000. It would also make space for the qualifier matches to be held on site, instead of at the Wimbledon Community Sport Centre over in Roehampton.
The shiny new courts and stadium would be built on the grounds of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club. If all goes to plan, seven maintenance buildings would also be constructed, alongside a 23-acre public park. The tennis club have also suggested that Wimbledon Park will receive £15 million worth of enhancements in the process, including a boardwalk across and around the lake, a watersports centre, and a children’s play park.
You can read more about the plans to expand Wimbledon here.
