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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Erin Santillo & Eleanor Crooks (PA)

All England Club at Wimbledon set to expand site with 39 new tennis courts

The All England Club is set to build 39 new tennis courts at Wimbledon as the site expands into neighbouring parkland.

Plans include an 8,000-seater show court with a retractable roof, which will make it the third biggest court at the tournament behind Centre and Court One.

Officials said it will be set within a ring of ancient oak trees and be ready to host matches from 2030.

The 38 other courts in the expansion will have temporary seating in a bid to reduce the site's impact on the park, originally designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century.

Wimbledon's £65 million bid to acquire the land from Wimbledon Park Golf Club was accepted in 2018.

The club anticipates submitting a planning application in July, with work beginning as early as January 2022.

Central to the plans – released as part of a second consultation document – is a restoration of areas of the land in keeping with Brown’s vision.

The serpentine lake will be restored and a further 1,000 trees planted, including historic species.

Capacity will only be increased from 42,000 to 50,000 spectators per day, which should make the grounds significantly less crowded, while Church Road – which bisects the two halves of the site – will be closed during the championships, partly for security reasons.

A chief motivation for acquiring the parkland was to enable qualifying for the tournament to be held on-site.

It is currently played at nearby Roehampton, but the plan is for it to be moved by 2028.

A new energy centre located in the park, meanwhile, will play a key role in Wimbledon’s plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The 2021 championships are set to begin on Monday 28 June.

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