The tournament of Wimbledon has received the first go-ahead for its future expansionafter the town council of Merton, the neighborhood where the tournament is located, recommended approval to build a stadium with a capacity for 8,000 people and 38 additional courts.
He All England Clubwhich hosts the third Grand Slam of the season, was made in 2018 and after paying more than 70 million euros for the land near the club, located in Wimbledon Park and which is still a golf club, to take an expansion in the future .
However, this requires several permits, due to the environmental impact these works can have on a natural area, and so far Wimbledon has been able to take the first step forward.
However, although this plan is expected to receive approval later October 26thopponents of these works have already collected more than 13,000 signatures under the slogan “Save Wimbledon Park.”
Ian Simpsonpresident of the association, assured that they were disappointed, but not surprised by this decision.
“We believe that common sense will prevail for a long time, because all the objections we have made in the last two and a half years are valid. “To say that these activities will not have significant adverse effects is surreal when they plan to flatten and destroy the current 30 hectares of very important nature conservation area,” added Simpson.
Fleur AndersonMP for Putney, Southfield and London, added his disappointment at the decision and assured that “generations of residents have fought to have access to green space” and that they must continue to fight for it.
Once this project receives the green light on October 26, it will be in the hands of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khanand the relevant authorities of the capital.
In the best-case scenario for Wimbledon, the courts may not begin use until 2030 at the earliest. The goal of the All England Club in this project is to expand its limited areas, to play the qualifying phase in the club itself – it is currently played in Roehampton, a few kilometers from Wimbledon -, and to increase the number of courts. available, because, for the competition, there are only 19.
Source: La Verdad
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