Wimbledon MP: “Tories have betrayed residents on Wimbledon Park”
Conservative Lord Banner’s amendment, which passed yesterday, weakens legal protections for Wimbledon Park. Paul Kohler MP slams the Conservatives for hypocrisy and failing to stand up for residents. Liberal Democrat peers vote against the amendment, urged to do so by Paul.
On Monday (14th April 2026), the House of Lords passed a revised ‘Wimbledon Park’ amendment*, proposed by Conservative peer Lord Banner, supported by Labour peers, significantly weakening legal protections safeguarding public recreational land.
It helps pave the way for the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) proposed redevelopment of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course, plans that have faced sustained and vocal opposition from local residents.**.
Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon Paul Kohler has criticised the Conservative Party’s handling of the issue. He points to the failure of the Conservative front bench who refused to oppose the amendment, with every Tory peer either abstaining or voting in favour.
The Liberal Democrat peers voted against the amendment, having been urged to do so by Mr Kohler in a letter ahead of the vote. Had the Tories joined with them in voting against, it would have been defeated, ensuring the Save Wimbledon Park group could continue to pursue their public trust litigation, currently before the Court of Appeal.
Paul has called out the hypocrisy of the Conservatives, as locally they are running a petition calling on Merton Council to uphold and enforce legal covenants protecting this land.*** He also criticised the cynicism of the Tory front bench in the Lords, who submitted a meaningless amendment to Lord Banner’s clause, using a well-worn parliamentary device that would have achieved nothing, simply to provide cover for the Conservatives’ decision to allow their fellow Tory peer, Lord Banner’s amendment to pass.****
Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler said:
“This move by the Conservatives represents a clear betrayal of Wimbledon residents and a deeply worrying step backwards for the protection of public open spaces.
Local people have been clear in their opposition, and yet a Conservative peer, with the support of the Labour government and the tacit help of his Conservative colleagues, has chosen to override those concerns and weaken long-standing legal protections for our public green spaces.”
“There is a clear contradiction at the heart of the Conservative approach. Nationally, their peers are allowing changes that undermine these protections, while locally they are claiming to back residents in seeking to preserve them. People in Wimbledon will rightly question that inconsistency.”
“Liberal Democrats have stood firmly with residents on this issue. I urged peers to reject this amendment because once these protections are weakened, it becomes far harder to defend our shared green spaces for future generations.”
“I will continue to work with Save Wimbledon Park and local residents to ensure that their concerns are not ignored.”
Further reading:
* https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/lords/division/3631#contents (formerly 250, now 248) 162-55
**The amendment enables the Secretary of State to discharge statutory trusts on land that was sold by local councils without proper consultation. The law applies retrospectively to 1980, specifically aimed at validating the 1993 sale of Wimbledon Park land to the AELTC.
***https://www.mertonconservatives.org/aeltc-planning-petition
****Their amendment required that a report first be tabled. This is a parliamentary device often used by parties pretending to do something but which has no meaningful effect, and was being used simply to provide cover for the Conservatives’ decision to allow their fellow Tory peer, Lord Banner’s amendment to pass.