Wimbledon MP Calls on Merton Council for Clarity on Wimbledon Park Legal Covenant

In the High Court today (Monday 21st July 2025), the judge dismissed the first of 3 legal challenges to the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) expansion plans to build on Wimbledon Park. However, in his judgment, Mr J Saini confirmed the “land is the subject of restrictive covenants which require it to be kept open and free of built development”.

Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler has consequently renewed his call for Merton Council to provide a clear answer on whether it will enforce the legal covenant prohibiting development.

The Labour-led council has repeatedly failed to give either a clear or direct answer to the question as to whether the Council will hold the AELTC to its promise to not build on the land. A promise which the judge in today’s proceedings made clear is still enforceable.

At the centre of the controversy is a covenant attached to the land when Merton Council sold the freehold of Wimbledon Park Golf Club to the AELTC in 1993. 

That legally binding covenant, and the public assurances made by the AELTC and Merton’s then Labour leadership, were intended to guarantee the land would remain protected as open space, to protect the site for future generations.

At the recent Merton Council meeting, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Sue Bucknall asked the Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development whether Merton Council has met with AELTC to discuss the land covenants, but the Council confessed they hadn't. 

Commenting, Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler said:

“Today’s ruling makes it all the more urgent that Merton Council stops hiding behind process and gives residents a straight answer. Will they enforce the legally binding promise made to the people of Wimbledon to keep this land free from development, or will they continue to dodge the question in the hope it can be quietly ignored?”

“If the answer is no, they need to explain why they are abandoning their legal duty to protect this land, and why they think the word of the Council, recorded in official minutes and backed by legal instruments, counts for so little.”

Further reading

The local Liberal Democrat campaign can be found here

9th July Merton Council meeting minutes can be found here