Wimbledon received permission on Friday to continue with its controversial expansion project, which will almost triple the size of the Grand Slam tournament site located southwest of London.
A proposal by the All England Club, which organizes the Wimbledon lawn tennis tournament, to build 39 new courts, including one with a capacity of 8,000, on the adjacent site of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club was approved on Friday by the Deputy Mayor of London in charge of town planning, Jules Pipe.
The plans were first submitted in 2021, but the project faced strong local opposition, notably from the “Save Wimbledon Park” association and environmental protesters.
The All England Club, for its part, justified its expansion project by the desire to organize the tournament qualifiers, which are currently taking place in Roehampton about five kilometers away, on the Wimbledon site itself.
“We look forward to working with all parties to bring this vision to life, delivering one of London’s biggest sporting transformations since the 2012 Olympics and securing Wimbledon’s future at the pinnacle of world sport,” said All England Club president Debbie Jevans.
