Wimbledon expansion plan under fire from local campaigners

Sign up now: Get STs newsletters delivered to your inbox

A protestor, dressed as a strawberry, from the campaign group Save Wimbledon Park, holds a sign which says \Berry Angry\ outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Sam Tobin

LONDON - Wimbledons plans to expand the grounds for the worlds oldest and most prestigious Grand Slam in tennis came under scrutiny on Tuesday as campaigners challenge to the expansion began at the High Court in London.

Campaign group Save Wimbledon Park is taking legal action over planning permission granted to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC),which wants to treble the size of its main site in a 200 million-pound ($271.5-million) project.

The expansion would feature 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, could increase daily capacity from 42,000 to 50,000 people, and allow qualifying rounds to be held on site, which has been home to the Championships since 1877.

The AELTCs plans to redevelop a former golf course which it owns are supported by several leading players, including Novak Djokovic, and some local residents. Planning permission was approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) last year.

But Save Wimbledon Park says the GLA failed to properly take account of restrictions on redeveloping the land, which were agreed when the AELTCs parent company bought the Wimbledon Park golf course freehold in 1993.

The groups lawyer Sasha White said the land is part of a registered park of special historic interest and located in a conservation area, telling the