Last Updated on 1 October 2024
The Wimbledon Society was disappointed by the decision of the Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe last Friday who followed the flawed reasoning of his officers and granted the AELTC’s planning application to develop the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course. We and the Save Wimbledon Park group are considering our response to this decision and what further actions may be taken.
The Society has been willing to talk to the AELTC about their plans throughout this process. We are still willing to do so if they will listen and engage with us.
We also hope that Merton Council will now deliver on the two Covenants on the Wimbledon Park golf course which specifically prevents any significant building on this land. We note that after Friday’s decision, Merton Council stated:
“The proposed development does not protect the openness of the land so it would breach the covenants.” and “the Council is free to decide whether it believes that sacrificing the openness of the land, and thereby defeating the purpose of the covenants, would be in the long-term interests of the locality.”
Unfortunately, Merton Council has overlooked the fact that they hold the park and lake (and therefore the benefit of the Covenants) on trust for the public and that their powers to take any unilateral action are severely limited by the Local Government Act 1972. We have written to the Council Leader to stress this point. Read our letter here
We invite Merton Council to ensure that they comply with their public duties accordingly. Equally, the AELTC are fully aware of the promises that they made in 1993 and as a respected organisation with a world-wide reputation we trust they will stand by those agreements.
