Wimbledon’s expansion plans heading for court of appeal after judge’s ruling
Wimbledon’s battle to build 39 new grass courts on a nearby golf course has taken a fresh twist after local residents were granted permission to take a judicial review case to the court of appeal.Last year the All England Club (AELTC) was given approval by Jules Pipe, the London deputy mayor for planning and regeneration, to build the courts on what used to be Wimbledon Park Golf Club – a decision that was then endorsed in the high court on 21 July.However, the Save Wimbledon Park pressure group challenged that verdict and on Monday it was announced that Lord Justice Holgate had granted a judicial review of the court’s decision.Explaining the reasons for granting the order, Holgate wrote: “The grounds of appeal are arguable with a real prospect of success.The case law on scheme benefits, deliverability, relevance, material considerations and irrationality merits review.
”SWP maintains that the expansion plans will create a “tennis industrial complex”, which will damage the environment and has failed to properly listen to the community.It is also fighting its legal battle with the All England Club on two other fronts, including a separate court case in January, where a judge will consider the possibility that the golf course could be subject to a “statutory trust” and thus be reserved for public recreation.It is also considering whether to go to court to challenge a “restrictive covenant” given by the AELTC committee in 1993 in which it promised never to develop the land.“This is a David and Goliath struggle,” Save Wimbledon Park said in a statement.“The AELTC is a rich and well-connected corporate developer which has worked for decades to take over a substantial part of this highly protected public Park for its own purposes.
”Christopher Coombe, a local lawyer who opposes the plans, said: “SWP has never been anti-tennis.We believe that it is high time for the AELTC to recognise the raft of legal and principled problems with its proposals and sit down and talk constructively with SWP and the local community.”Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionHowever, the All England Club remains confident that its expansion plans, which would triple the size of its grounds, will go ahead despite this latest stumbling block.In a statement, a spokesperson said: “We are confident that the court of appeal will ultimately judge that the high court made the correct decision in upholding the Greater London Authority’s grant of planning permission for a development that will enable us to deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.“Our plans will create a permanent home for the Wimbledon qualifying competition but crucially they also deliver 27 acres of beautiful new parkland for local people to enjoy, providing the public access to green space that has been used as a private members golf club for more than 100 years.
”
Boris Becker: ‘Whoever says a prison life is easy is lying – it’s a real punishment’
Former Wimbledon champion on how taking accountability for his crimes allowed for rehabilitation, watching Novak Djokovic from his cell and the new era of brotherhood in the sport“I heard the screaming and I didn’t know what it was,” Boris Becker says as he remembers staring into the dark in Wandsworth prison, just over two miles from Wimbledon’s Centre Court where he won the first of his three men’s singles titles at the age of 17 in 1985. “Were people trying to kill themselves or harm themselves? Or couldn’t they deal with their loneliness? Or are they just making crazy noises because they have lost their minds already?”Becker had been sentenced to a two-and-a-half-year jail term. Amid his insolvency, he was found guilty of not declaring all his assets so that additional funds could be distributed to his creditors. The judge confirmed that his money was used, instead, to meet his “commitments to his children and other dependents, medical and professional fees, and other expenses”.He was taken from court to prison on Friday 29 April 2022, the start of a bank holiday weekend, which meant he was confined to a cell as bedlam broke out around him
‘Never, ever give up’: fighting for Afghanistan’s sporting future in shadow of the Taliban
“My message for all Afghan women who play is that if there is any small opportunity, do it,” Samira Asghari says. “My solid message is never, ever give up. Afghanistan was always a war-torn country, unfortunately. We have grown up in a war country. And we believe in a future Afghanistan, and the future of Afghanistan is the people
Former Rhondda roofer Harri Deaves to make Wales debut against the All Blacks
Harri Deaves began his working life as a roofer but on Saturday the Ospreys flanker will run out in the scarlet shirt of Wales against the All Blacks to complete “an amazing story” from club rugby player to international.The 24-year-old will win his first cap in a Wales side showing five changes from the one that edged out Japan 24-23 with a last-gasp penalty.Deaves’s ascent is one of the game’s more uncommon career paths in the era of professional rugby. He joined the Ospreys Academy from his local club, Pontyclun, in the Rhondda after a brief civil engineering course at Bridgend College.His early days at Ospreys, alongside British & Irish Test Lions Alex Cuthbert, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb, saw him turn up for morning training sessions in his van ahead of afternoon work as a roofer
Revealed: sports agent Jonathan Barnett’s three-year legal battle with John Regis and Jennifer Stoute
Special report: A leading agent and two Olympians fell out when their talent agency was sold, leading to ‘three years of torture’ which came to a sudden end after the emergence of text messages sent to a phone registered to BarnettA high-court claim that had pitted the leading sports agent Jonathan Barnett against his former business partners, the Olympic medallists John Regis and Jennifer Stoute, was withdrawn after an extraordinary three-year legal battle.A partnership of which Barnett was a member, the sports agency Stellar Athletics LLP, pursued a claim against Regis and Stoute for £1.2m after they left in 2021. It was settled by the parent company, CAA Stellar, in April 2024, shortly after Barnett himself resigned from the company.Speaking about the matter for the first time, Stoute described the case as “three years of torture”
Welcome to the Ashes, the classic cricket rivalry that never really starts or stops
Some say the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is now pre-eminent, but there is nothing more intense than Australia v EnglandIf it feels like the buildup to this Ashes series has lasted 842 days that is because it pretty much has. Test cricket’s oldest rivalry resumes on Friday inside Perth’s 60,000-seat thunderdome and with it, mercifully, comes fresh fuel for the ever-raging fire.Because on one level the Ashes never really starts or stops. Since Stuart Broad nicked off Alex Carey at the Oval on 31 July 2023 – the final act of a dramatic 2-2 draw – the sides have been tracking each other, all while their supporters chip away from afar.To the rest of the world this obsession must get a bit tiresome
Lewis Hamilton defends work ethic after Ferrari chief’s ‘talk less’ rebuke
Lewis Hamilton has insisted he does not believe he can work any harder to help improve Ferrari’s performance.The 40-year-old driver was reacting to a rebuke from the Ferrari president John Elkann, who had stated he should: “Focus on driving and talk less.” Hamilton however maintained pointedly that the issues at Ferrari would not be fixed with “the click of a finger”.Hamilton, who has yet to claim a podium for Ferrari in what has been an immensely trying first season with the team, was outspoken after another disappointing race at the last round in Brazil, after which he described his debut year with a Ferrari as “a nightmare”. Elkann responded equally bluntly with his riposte
Jon Stewart on Trump’s Epstein files flip-flop: ‘This dude is flailing’
North by Northwest: Hitchcock’s funniest, most ambitious film
David Nicholls to adapt The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ for BBC
‘People still blame me for their perforated eardrums’: how we made the Tango ads
Memoirs, myths and Midnight’s Children: Salman Rushdie’s 10 best books – ranked!
High art: the museum that is only accessible via an eight-hour hike