Covenants won’t stop Wimbledon tennis stadium

Plans for an 8,000-seat stadium and 38 grass courts at Wimbledon were given a boost last night after attempts to block the development were defeated. The Labour-led Merton Council overturned an opposition motion to “enforce” covenants which state that the site must remain an open space. The motion was amended to say that covenants, which were agreed in 1993, “need to be respected” but not enforced. The All England Lawn Tennis Club agreed to the covenants when it bought the Grade II* listed parkland from the council in 1993 for £5.2m. The land was then rented to Wimbledon Park Golf Club on a lease that was due to expire in 2041, but in 2018 the All England club agreed a £65m deal with golf club members to buy the lease. The All England club said the plans, which include 9.4km of roads on protected land and the 8,000-seat Parkland show court stadium, which would be 95m long and 28m high, would enhance its “tennis in an English garden image”. The Times (£)