Fight does not end here, say critics, as Wimbledon wins the go-ahead to expand

Wimbledon's controversial plans to build 39 new tennis courts have been given the green light after a deputy mayor of London ruled that the "very significant benefits" of the scheme outweighed any potential harm to the environment.

- Sean Ingle

Speaking at the end of a threehour public hearing at City Hall, Jules Pipe said it was right for the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to be granted planning permission to expand from 41 to 115 hectares on the site of the old Wimbledon Park golf course.

Campaigners had urged the Labour deputy mayor to reject plans that would lead to 300 trees being chopped down and creation of a "tennis industrial complex". They said the site was on metropolitan open land, which usually requires "very special circumstances" to build on.

Pipe insisted benefits from the development, which include a 8,000seat show court plus 38 other courts for a qualifying tournament and practice facilities, met such a threshold.

"The proposed development would facilitate very significant benefits, including those to public open space and recreation, community, cultural heritage, ecology and biodiversity, economic, employment and transport," he said.