NIMBY Wimbledon plan cynics must not stop London from being leading sport city
Listening to NIMBY councillor after NIMBY councillor cast doubts on the benefits of a Wimbledon expansion last night as Wandsworth Council refused to support the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s ambitious plans really makes you wonder whether London has lost all belief in itself as a sporting giant.
The Wimbledon Championships are simply divine, a quintessentially British staple whose beautiful flower displays and fashion moments are broadcast and exported globally for the onlooking masses. As, of course, is the tennis.
We should be proud of what Wimbledon represents for Britain and London’s sporting scene, and we should be doing everything in our power to help project that image across the world.
British product
Chair of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, today told CityAM that “British sport, art and culture are hugely loved across the world and have a vital role to play in strengthening our ties with other countries and helping the UK achieve its development goals.”
The member for Gosport was talking about the UK’s new foreign diplomacy strategy but that philosophy applies here too. Wimbledon needs to be given the tools to peacock and grandstand for two weeks of the year as the primary location to watch the very best tennis stars in the world in a competition where male and female players are paid equal amounts to entertain thousands daily.
And this project succeeding should be done whatever the cost.
Speaking to CityAM earlier this year the chairman of global coffee firm Lavazza, Giuseppe Lavazza, hailed the British sporting industry as one which superbly entices overseas investment.
“The British sporting market is fantastic; you have the British Open golf, Silverstone, Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and the [Henley] Regatta…” he said. “Such an array of beautiful events.
“In France, for example, you don’t have that, except Roland Garros and Tour de France. In Italy it is very difficult to find.”
NIMBYs disrupt Wimbledon
Wandsworth’s right to debate this issue comes down to a small triangular piece of land while the majority of the plot – a golf course in which the All England Club purchased the lease – sits within the boundaries of neighbouring Merton Council, who last month gave the project their support.
Over 120 pages of documentation were poured over for this debate, including the placement of benches, the saltiness of the plot’s lake and whether permanent stadiums indeed needed to be… permanent.
But the highlight of what are usually mundane council meetings was hearing one elected contributor describe a tennis court as an “alien” piece of land. OK then.
The point is this…
The point is this. The expansion to Wimbledon will be built on the land of a private member only golf course, a golf course which will be replaced with another largely private business, plus a publicly usable park amounting to several hectares.
The expansion will undoubtedly bring economic benefits to the local community throughout the tournament at the expense of a road being closed for a fortnight, which ironically feels like a fewer number of days than most roadwork closures last in the UK.
And the expansion allows London to show the world that it is progressing its sports offering and its status as the premier place to be for bats, balls, rackets, hospitality, horses, greyhounds and more.
The Mayor Sadiq Khan has already denied the capital an MSG Sphere this week, so here’s hoping that he can team up with Michael Gove to defeat the NIMBYs and ensure that London can go into 2024 knowing there’s at least some sporting ambition left in its tank.
It’s time we became sporting YIMBYs.