Councillors to vote against plans for new Wimbledon show court

Controversial plans for a new Wimbledon show court are to be put to a vote of councillors in a motion that could see them block the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) 10-storey tennis stadium on a protected park.

Opposition councillors are “plotting a showdown vote” on Wednesday night on the controversial stadium plans next door to the famous tennis complex.

They claim the plans will “concrete over” the Capability Brown-designed parkland and “lead to the destruction of countless mature trees, all for the sake of courts that will only be used for a few weeks a year”.

Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors will call on the Labour-run Merton council to enforce restrictive covenants that prevent building on the Grade II* listed parkland.

“Enforcing the covenants would ensure the All England Club’s proposals would be blocked even if its planning application is successful,” the Lib Dem councillors said in advance of the meeting at which they have tabled the motion.

Despite the covenant, the club has submitted plans for a 95-metre long, 28-metre high, 8,000-seat “Parkland show court” on the land designed by Brown for the first Earl Spencer in 1768.

The plans, which the club said would enhance its “tennis in an English garden” image, also include 38 ground courts, several ancillary buildings and 9.4km of roads and paths on the protected land.

More than 1,200 people have submitted formal objections via the council’s websites.

The AELTC bought the land from the council for £5.2m in 1993, but agreed to legal covenants “preventing the use of the land otherwise than for leisure or recreation purposes or as an open space”.

The club rented the land to Wimbledon Park Golf Club on a lease due to expire in 2041. However, eager to