Strawberries and cream, Pimms, and Murray Mound are phrases reserved for one of the great British sporting spectacles: Wimbledon. Thousands of people will soon descend on SW19 to breathe in the captivating atmosphere and see tennis’s top stars, such as Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff.
The competition will get underway today, and as people walk towards the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) along Church Road, they will spot a bit of land that used to be a golf club. This land has been the subject of a contentious planning row.
AELTC bought the lease for the neighbouring Wimbledon Park Golf Club for a reported £65m in 2018, and has ambitious plans for the site, which also incorporates Wimbledon Park Lake. It wants to build 38 new courts, including a third show court with a seating capacity of 8,000 and a retractable roof, as well as designated north and south player hubs, while also providing publicly accessible parkland.
Under the proposals, originally submitted in 2021, the grounds would almost triple in size, allowing Wimbledon to host the qualifying tournaments in SW19 rather than at their current venue a couple of miles away in Roehampton.
The work is projected to be completed in 2030, delivering an increase in the capacity of the championships from 42,000 to 50,000 along with “benefits relating to heritage open space, recreation and community”. However, the application is in gridlock. The ambitious scheme has not gone down well with some residents, who have set up a campaign group, Save Wimbledon Park, to object to the development and garnered thousands of petition signatures.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 01, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 01, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends
