The All England Lawn Tennis Club is accused of ‘squishing locals’ as it turns a park set aside for public use into a car park during the championships
There was a little knot of demonstrators on Wimbledon Park Road on Friday morning, just up the way from the All England Lawn Tennis Club. It was a very proper little picket, polite placards, friendly flyers inviting people to sign a petition. As protests go, it was ever so SW19, a civil sort of disobedience. “Welcome to Wimbledon Park!” the handouts read, “The Wimbledon and Southfields communities hope you have a great day at the tennis. They are giving up a lot so you can park here today.” Mainly their public park land, which the club has taken over so it can be used as a car park during the tournament.
In 2018, the AELTC bought a swath of Wimbledon Park, which was landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century. It recently announced plans to build 39 tennis courts there, one an 8,000-seat show court. Given that the AELTC now owns all this land, the local residents wonder, with good reason, why does the club insist on commandeering the part of the park set aside for public use and turning it into a car lot for three weeks at the height of summer. It will be four next year, when the qualifying tournament is moved on site too.
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