The Wimbledon Park Project is central to maintaining Wimbledon’s position at the pinnacle of tennis, whilst at the same time offering significant social, economic and environmental improvements for both the local community and all of London.

The project will not only ensure Wimbledon remains at the pinnacle of the sport, but also help us reach our net zero targets, to becoming environment positive.

In 2018, the AELTC bought the remaining term of the Wimbledon Park Golf Club lease to ensure that we will be able to host qualifying onsite in order to maintain and enhance our position as the pinnacle of tennis, delivering the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament when the agreement to use the Bank of England Sports Ground expires.

The All England Club (AELTC) has owned the freehold of Wimbledon Park Golf club since the early 1990’s, the lease to the golf club was due to expire in 2041.

Through the AELTC Wimbledon Park Project, we will be able to host our Qualifying tournament in SW19. This project will allow us to match the ever-improving standard of the other Grand Slams and provide the best possible experience for players and spectators from around the world. The project also allows us the exciting opportunity to deliver a positive impact for our local communities by creating a new public park, investing in upskilling and education opportunities, and improving biodiversity.

The AELTC has recently been able to extend the Bank of England lease by a further five years to allow time for the Wimbledon Park Project development to be completed.

We have now received planning permission from the Greater London Authority. By our current projections, we hope to hold the Qualifying Competition on site in the early 2030s.

Our planning application was submitted to both the London Borough of Merton and Wandsworth in July 2021. In October 2023, Merton Council resolved to approve the application and in November 2023. Disappointingly, Wandsworth Council resolved to deny planning permission.

The application was called in by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in January 2024. Following a public Hearing in September 2024, the GLA resolved to approve our plans to transform the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course.

This followed many months of engagement with statutory bodies, the local community and elected representatives from Merton, Wandsworth and the GLA throughout both the design and pre-application stages. This engagement will continue as we enter a new phase of the process.

Our proposals will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since 2012, with substantial benefits for London and our community:

• The Wimbledon Park Project is estimated to generate an additional £38.32 million to the London economy – representing a 14% increase and the creation of c.256 jobs.
• A new 23 acre public park will be one of the largest areas of private land in London to be opened up for public access and is a unique opportunity to recapture some of Capability Brown’s design and vision.
• A new, 4 acre public park at the northern entrance to the site, adjacent to the entrance to the existing Wimbledon Park. The proposed northern parkland will be accessible year-round, outside of the Qualifying Competition and The Championships.
• A new accessible lakeside path and boardwalk around Wimbledon Park Lake, alongside vital de-silting works to ensure its preservation for generations to come.
• Seven grass courts will be available for community use, for Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative participants and the existing AELTC Junior Community Tennis Programme from the end of The Championships until the end of the grass court season.
• Space in the Parkland Show Court to be used by the local community year-round outside The Championships period.
• An allocation of 500 seats on the Parkland Show Court for residents in Merton and Wandsworth to purchase each day the court is in use during The Championships.

We have been liaising closely with The Wimbledon Club as one of the three landowners (along with London Borough of Merton) and will continue to do so throughout the project.

Each of the landowners own the freehold to their own land, all three landowners have agreed to work together to the benefit of the park. Proposals circulated by several societies and groups have not been part of those discussions. These ideas are unrealistic and would mean a greater loss of trees, significant land forming and many more years of construction on the site.

Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) can be built on in “very special circumstances”.

MOL is a strategic planning designation and is afforded the same status and protection as Green Belt. Whilst a change to an alternative outdoor sport can be supported within MOL, the construction of new buildings (even where this supports a sporting use) can be granted planning permission in “very special circumstances”. It is incumbent upon the AELTC to demonstrate that very special circumstances exist to support the proposed buildings (including the new Parkland Show Court). This has been set out in detail within the planning application. 

We submitted our application in July 2021 and received decisions from Merton and Wandsworth councils in late 2023. The project was called in by the Greater London Authority in January 2024, and, following a public Hearing in September 2024, we have now received formal planning permission from the GLA.

Bringing the Qualifying event to SW19 is to improve the experience for both the players and visiting guests alike.

“This doesn’t really feel like a Grand Slam......It is definitely not organised like other events in the qualifying. We have locker rooms that are super-small. They can only fit 10 players. We don’t get much practice, transport … The goal is to end up in Wimbledon village because that feels like Wimbledon.” Qualifying Player

Qualifying is held at the Bank of England Sports Centre in Roehampton, where we hold a fixed term lease. This means that we cannot invest in the long-term improvements that we need to provide a world class environment for our Qualifying competitors.

All other Grand Slams hold Qualifying rounds on their main site, which creates a sense of anticipation for players - an important part of the lead up to the main tournament that we’d like to also harness at Wimbledon.

We have set a maximum of 10,000 spectators per day in our application.

At the Bank of England about 2,000 tickets are available on each of the four days of Qualifying. Although the site on the golf course is bigger, we are not intending to maximise footfall, nor are we expecting a huge spike in interest.

The proposal provides new grass courts:

• To run the Qualifying Tournament.
• To support The Championships Main Draw matches.
• To provide practice courts for Main Draw players.

The nature of the grass surface, and the need to protect The Championship courts for the Main Draw, means there is a shortfall of practice courts on the main Grounds, with competitors having to share courts during practice sessions. This is in contrast to all other Grand Slam Tournaments and is viewed as a shortcoming among our competitors. The provision of additional practice courts will help address this shortcoming.

It is important to stress that the size of the Main Draw is not expanding – although, we will be able to expand the wheelchair tennis draw and the newly established U14 tournament.

Outside of The Championships, courts will host a wider tennis programme including grassroots tournaments and events, school groups and other clubs to promote lawn tennis.

The AELTC is seeking to create a new 8,000 seat Parkland Show Court that will:

• Create more opportunities for our guests to experience show court tennis
• Provide guaranteed tennis with a third moving roof
• Expand the ground capacity so more people can enjoy the event

The Championships has fallen behind the other Grand Slams in terms of the quality and size of a third show court (i.e. a smaller stadium court additional to Centre Court and No 1 Court), substandard player practice facilities and a Qualifying event offsite. More is expected by players, by spectators and media.

The new 8000 seat Parkland Show Court will be similar in size and capacity to the third show courts at the other Grand Slam events.

The court sits into a sloping section of the site. It is 24m (just less than 79ft) above ground level to the west (Church Road) and 28m (approximately 92ft) above ground level at its very highest point to the east; lower than No.1 Court and Centre Court.

Within our planning application the size and shape of the court is tightly defined and the whole building will be subject to “reserved matters” approvals.

During the design process a number of alternative locations for the new Show Court were considered, including within the main AELTC Grounds. This included the Car Park 4/Aorangi area of the main grounds, and the southern apex off Somerset Road.

However, both these options extend the north/south linearity of the site which creates dead ends and pinch points causing circulation and safety problems. They are close to neighbouring residential properties and would therefore have had a significant impact on those residents.

Locating the new Show Court in the new parkland allows us to centralise the event around the Centre Court and No.1 Court, creating a safer event with more public spaces/areas and wider circulation routes.

Our proposed Parkland Show Court is sunk into the ground to hide accommodation for players, officials, servicing using the natural slope to reduce its scale to the street.

If the tennis court itself was set further into the ground this would mean adding space above ground in the building or other buildings around the site to house the accommodation that would be removed from below the court.

A detailed landscape visual impact assessment has been undertaken to assess the new Parkland Show Courts impact on views and prominence, submitted in our planning application in July 2021.

The removal of the golf course template of trees grants the opportunity for us to provide a more naturalistic parkland setting throughout. This, along with the new publicly accessible AELTC Park, will allow us to open new views, restoring older views within the historic parkland for residents and visitors to enjoy.

The assessment has demonstrated that the court will be well screened from key viewpoints outside the Site – with glimpsed views from along Church Road and from across Wimbledon Park Lake (particularly during the summer when the trees are in leaf). The new Show Court will be more visible during the winter months, but it will often be set against existing views of the main Grounds.

The AELTC has commissioned an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which has been submitted with the planning application and assesses the impact of the proposed development.

A scoping report which agrees the content of the EIA was submitted to both planning authorities before the application was submitted. Both planning authorities have sought independent analysis of the content of our EIA.

We have worked closely with Historic England on this matter and have developed a detailed plan for our land in the park. This plan includes a conservation management programme, with individual management plans for the veteran trees, and demonstrates leadership for the remainder of the park.

Our conservation plan has been shared with the other landholders and Historic England and will be extended to cover the whole park eventually. It is our hope that this plan will enable the parkland to be removed from the ‘At Risk’ register.

The proposed works to Wimbledon Park Lake – which will include de-silting works, the de-culverting of the two brooks serving the site, returning the Lake to its original shape, and wider environmental improvements to the Lake edge - will safeguard the long-term future of the Lake and ensure that its heritage value is safeguarded and improved.

Construction will have an impact on the local area in the shorter-term. However, we will be working closely with both Boroughs on the direction of flow of construction traffic.

By way of mitigation measures, we are looking to maintain the maximum amount of material on site thereby reducing vehicle movements. We will be using prefabrication techniques meaning that more elements of building will arrive on site in a more complete state thereby reducing time on site and therefore disturbance. We will be monitoring noise and air quality throughout the build.

Our proposal is to remove deposits in the lake that have built up over hundreds of years with minimum disturbance (although some is inevitable in the short-term to gain long-term benefits). If this work is not done, the lake will be lost and at risk of becoming a large boggy area within decades.

The AELTC would like to contribute substantially to de-silting the lake. We believe our contribution would be an important benefit and enable the London Borough of Merton to provide civic amenity, sailing, angling and support biodiversity for decades to come, and protect the vital component of heritage in the park.

The proposed boardwalk will not affect existing lake uses other than in order to enhance ecology.

A key objective of our proposals is to provide an attractive lakeside walkway around the entire Lake, lining up with the existing footpath within Wimbledon Park. This includes sections of boardwalk around some of the sensitive parts of the site. These are intended to avoid disturbing the ecology around sections of the lake edge and to provide safe refuge for nature to flourish.

In response to our consultations, we have moved parts of the boardwalk closer to the Lake edge to ensure a large area is available for sailing. Pontoons have been added for Anglers. Our proposals for removing deposits that have filled up the lake over time will have a highly positive and long-term impact on sailing and angling with the additional freeboard gained. 

Many of the trees present have been planted to create the layout of the golf course making highlighting linear fairways, the greens and tees – not in line with the design intent of the landscape movement. As result, much of the newer planting has obscured the historic layout of the land. These trees are generally short-lived fast-growing species competing with important specimens.

We have researched and analysed the existing trees stock on-site very carefully, particularly the more mature trees and those with veteran status (some of which date from or before Capability Brown).

The proposals will necessitate the removal of 296 trees (the majority of which are either Category C or U trees meaning they either have a short life-expectancy or are of poor quality). Some of the tree removal is also recommended to improve the health of the retained veteran trees and to prevent their canopies and/or root systems from becoming overcrowded. All category A trees and 90% of category B trees (the healthiest trees) will be retained and protected.

To off-set these trees being removed, we propose to plant 1,500 new trees at a variety of sizes (between 2yr old trees and extra heavy standards, plus several thousand additional trees and shrubs planted as bare-root whips). The new planting will be more naturalistic and will follow the aspiration to adopt Brownian principles within the future landscape design. Added to this, we also propose to transplant 18 existing trees within the site (these comprise of 2no A category, 5no B category, 11no C category). This decision has been made after a detailed review of the trees to identify the best candidates for relocation.

All 41 ancient and veteran trees are being retained and individual management plans have been prepared to protect and enhance each tree. These trees hold important genetic heritage and could live for a further few hundred years. The veteran trees have also provided the acorns and seed banks for new trees to be planted on-site. This means that many of trees to be planted will be based on the DNA from the existing tree stock, making them more robust and climate change resilient.

We are being closely advised in relation to our tree removal, planting and preservation proposals by expert tree and landscape consultants.

A key change that forms part of our proposal would see the opening of the two culverted water courses that feed the Lake from Parkside, thereby returning them to natural brooks and significantly improving surface water drainage.

The natural hydrology of the site has perched water table (meaning water sitting at a higher level than the natural water table). Our tennis courts are designed, through their method of construction, to cope with the natural hydrology and will not affect water upstream.

We aim to reduce reliance on cars coming to the area to our event. We are engaged with TfL on future transport options and on active travel measures including cycling.

The site already has good public transport links via the underground, overground and bus routes. The District Line upgrade which is currently underway will increase capacity on the underground in coming years and our new entrance arrangements will make the journey time into the park and arrival at The Championships just a short (and more attractive) walk from Southfields or Wimbledon Park stations. These incentives are part of AELTC’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon and becoming Environment Positive by 2030.

We are actively reducing car parking capacity with the aim of removing the use of the northern part of Wimbledon Park (known historically as Car Park 10) as soon as practical. The Queue is a much-loved Wimbledon institution, and we have no plans to move its location.

We are actively looking to reduce car trips to The Championships and the future Qualifying event as part of our drive to be environmentally positive by 2030. We will have a new Travel Plan and Car Park Management Plan which aims to reduce travel by private car, promote sustainable travel modes and reduce associated parking.

Our Environmental Assessment has taken a ‘worst case’ approach to assessing the impact of the development and associated traffic on local roads. This is a standardised methodology to assessing impacts of change.

We recognise that people have expressed concern about the temporary road closure as part of the Experimental Traffic Management Order and future plans. We have listened to these concerns and have explored alternatives, including constructing road tunnels, pedestrian tunnels and bridges. Whilst these provide some benefits, the significant and detrimental visual, physical and environmental impacts to the park, coupled with the short period of time for which they would be required, mean that these are not appropriate solutions.

We understand that a temporary closure for the duration of the Championships has an impact on regular routes used by local people. We want the temporary closure and associated diversions to be in place for the shortest time possible.

Additionally, permission for a temporary closure of Church Road for the duration of The Championships and Qualifying Tournament will be the subject of a Traffic Management Order. The Championships is one of the most high-profile sporting events in the world, attracting up to 500,000 spectators each year. We work closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure the Championships remain as safe as possible, and the temporary closure of Church Road has been identified as an important way to improve safety and security.

Over the course of the project, we have engaged with the local community and listened to their views whether supportive or not. Where practical this feedback has been taken on board.

We have spoken to over 35 different community groups – ranging from community embedded groups, various Residents Associations, local councillors and interest groups to get an understanding of what was lacking in terms of existing community infrastructure and what would be of benefit.

We have engaged with over 50 resident groups, local societies and councillors, with over 800 comments received during the public consultation phase that was carried out between March 2021 and July 2021. During this phase of the consultation, which primarily took place on-line due to Covid-19 restrictions, we shared our understanding and plans for the site and gathered feedback.

After submission of the application, we have continued to consult by holding open days to walk the site, meet specialists to have questions answered and continue to communicate with the above groups and their representatives.

In total we have now engaged with over 8,500 people through one of our consultation events and hosted 110 guided tours of the proposed southern parkland.

Prior to the public consultation process, we consulted with many groups and key statutory authorities, so the proposals were tested before they we released for general consultation. We subsequently made further changes as a result of public consultation: a reduction in the number of trees being removed from 500 to 300 (all trees to be removed are low grade).

• Better explanation of the importance and need for the number of grass tennis courts.
• Changes in specification of fencing adjacent to houses in the southern corner of the site.
• Clarification of our proposed community benefits.
• Confirmation of public access to 23 acres of the southern parkland with a new gate on Church Road.
• Fishing pontoons added to the boardwalk, designed with the angling club.
• Greater explanation of the choice of location of the Parkland Show Court and alternatives considered.
• Increase in natural surface water retention across the site.
• Location changes for some new trees that would block existing views.
• More opportunities required for engagement to continue including walks around the site, learning and heritage opportunities.
• Position of the boardwalk on the lake moved to allow the sailing club to take advantage of the desilted freeboard.
• Reducing or removing reliance on any of the Public Park for car parking by the time the Qualifying event can be first held in the parkland.
• Review of an alternative location of the Queue in the south of the site.
• The importance of early commitment to early explanation and engagement on a Construction Management Plan.
• A newly proposed 4-acre northern parkland, adjacent to Wimbledon Park.

The AELTC is in active discussion about funding for local improvements to places such as Wimbledon Park.

We are proposing to install a state-of-the-art children’s playground, new public toilet facilities and upgrade the Watersports and Outdoor Centre, as well as two new seamless links to both the northern and southern parklands.

The AELTC will, through the Foundation and other means, continue to take an active role in supporting many community projects in Merton and Wandsworth – including exploring those that look to enhance existing public areas of Wimbledon Park.

Generating investment for the local area
The AELTC and The Championships already generate significant and quantifiable socio-economic benefit to both Merton and Wandsworth, London, and the UK as a whole. The AELTC is one of the largest employers in this part of London with c.6,000 people employed during The Championships.

The AELTC and The Championships are of national and international importance. Our annual event generates a TV audience of approximately 1.2 billion people and attracts circa 550,000 visitors to the grounds throughout the tournament and around 80,000 during the remainder of the year. This generates a significant income, much of which is reinvested in the local area. 

A new AELTC Park

At a more specific level, the project will provide a 27-acres of new parkland. The AELTC Parkland, known as the northern parkland and the southern parkland, were previously part of the private member’s golf course, which will make it one of the largest areas of private land in London to be opened to public access. The AELTC Parklands will be directly managed by AELTC and will provide year-round public access around the Wimbledon Park Lake for the first time, other than very short periods during the Championships. Park opening and closing hours will be similar to those of Wimbledon Park. Additional benefits of the park include:

• Significantly increasing direct public access to open, recreational space.
• Providing a restored historic landscape complete with best practice management, maintenance and long-term stewardship.
• Removing the golf course infrastructure and restoring and conserving the 18th Century features including the restoration of the lake’s historic outline, daylighting culverted water courses, revealing obscured views, conserving veteran trees and preserving their genetic material through a tree propagation programme.

Supporting local biodiversity

The site is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest and includes a large number of trees (and other vegetation) which provide important habitats and biodiversity. The proposal offers the opportunity to repair sections of the landscape and significantly enhance ecology/biodiversity value. Improvements to the Lake also support this ambition.

As part of the proposal, we will also double the number of trees on the golf course through the retention/ protection of veteran trees and significant new planting - giving a net gain of 1,000 important new genetically resilient trees. The proposals will also provide net improvement to biodiversity through enhancement works to the site, the Lake and potentially within Wimbledon Park.

Improving the Church Road connection

The proposed updates to Church Road will:

• Bring some relief to local residential streets by diverting non-essential traffic away from the area.
• Create a safer environment which mitigates threats within crowded spaces and is in support of prevailing guidance.
• Encourage healthier modes of transport such as cycling and walking, and reduce dependency on cars
• Improve the appearance and safety of Church Road year round
• Invest in traffic reduction and calming
• Link safely the two halves of the event space during the Championships
• Reduce crowding and increase the standoff distance on each side of the Grounds effectively away from the main gates at peak times.
• Restrict vehicle access to these crowded areas during The Championships.

These plans will form part of the planning application, with any re-design works subject to an S.278 Agreement. It is anticipated that proposed temporary closure of Church Road will be secured via a Traffic Management Order (TMO).

Following our suggestion to Merton Council, access to the new AELTC Park will become a legally binding commitment as a benefit of being granted planning permission.

Permissive access means a route or area on private land that the landowner has given permission for people to use, the AELTC will retain its freehold of the land. We have now signed up to a Section 106 Agreement which will define the length of the benefit so it cannot be taken away at any time.