Darkness on the edge of town
The battle of Merton, ICONography and a short odds shock
It’s not all strawberries, Pimms and lucrative Airbnb rentals for a fortnight every summer in the environs of The Championships at Wimbledon. Merton, as for all London boroughs, has significant areas of deprivation. So too next door Wandsworth. Which makes the prolonged battle over the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club’s expansion plans all the more unseemly. Time for a more holistic attitude in the search for a solution to the prolonged planning impasse.
The AELTC is sited in the Village ward of Merton. The Club has purchased a private golf course in the neighbouring ward of Wimbledon Park and has proposed a redevelopment stretching north into Wandsworth that would provide a new show court for The Championships as well as 38 additional grass courts. It argues that the extra capacity will enable Wimbledon to remain a pinnacle event in the global tennis calendar.
The Village is one of the most affluent of Merton’s twenty wards; Wimbledon Park is not far behind. There is a 7.7 year gap in average male life expectancy between those living in the most- and those in the least-deprived wards in the borough. The disparity is 5.0 years for females. Both these statistics are in line with the numbers for London and England overall, but are no less striking for that.
The plans for the expansion of the AELTC across the road from its main site include a string of concessions to a local community angsty about the loss of green space - even though the land involved was previously the domain of amateur golfers rather than public parkland. Merton Council has given them the green light, but Wandsworth has decided not to follow suit. Ultimately the decision will rest with London’s mayor or even central government.
One complaint from the dissenting locals is that the All England has refused to compromise on its grand vision. Hasn’t offered a Plan B or C. Three years into the process it is sticking with an ‘all or nothing’ approach. Frankly, such intransigence doesn’t surprise me, such is the might of the Wimbledon machine.
“The AELTC is showing complete contempt for the people of Wimbledon.” Lib Dem website. Wimbledon swung to Lib Dem in the general election. The previous Tory MP was similarly opposed to the All England plans.
The battle has largely become a tussle over the quantity of public parkland that the plans provide. But is this what Merton and Wandsworth need most? Couldn’t their councils secure new facilities that would have real inroads into the social problems that beset the poorer cohorts in their populations?
At one point in the imagining of the future of London’s Olympic Stadium there was a proposal to build an educational establishment in the undercroft of the building. This came to nought, but why not embed community facilities into the Wimbledon expansion, starting with the design of the new show court?
What do the boroughs need most? Could be a medical centre, school, social housing, a multi-sport venue. Maybe other things entirely. Has the AELTC asked Merton and Wandsworth the question, or vice versa?
Grass tennis courts are not conducive to alternative uses, and are only likely to be played on for a few weeks every year. If we take at face value the AELTC’s argument that it is imperative to move qualifying for The Championships onto this adjacent site and to provide more practice facilities, then the councils’ planners should demand that a way is found to deploy the space the courts occupy more imaginatively.
Just as grass swards can be rolled into football stadia and cricket pitches dropped into other sports’ venues, what solutions can be found to ensure courts aren’t fallow space for most of the year? Wander around the AELTC in the middle of winter and you are struck by just how handsome but dead the massive venue is outside its grand slam fortnight. Why simply extend that deadness over the road?
The AELTC remits 90% of its annual profits to the Lawn Tennis Association, national governing body for the sport. Last year that amounted to £49 million, helping make the LTA one of the wealthiest NGBs.
I’ve argued previously in Sport inc. that the LTA doesn’t need any more cash. Indeed, less might even force it to sharpen its focus, possibly yielding greater results. Needless to say, the LTA didn’t react too kindly to my volley at the body. I stand by my view though.
Presumably the AELTC expects the expansion of its footprint to lead to even greater profitability, and hence an income boost for the LTA. Why not instead earmark those extra profits for operating the social facilities embedded in a revised plan for the enlarged site? This would require changes to both the articles that govern the AELTC and its agreement with the LTA, but as a private members club this would be simple to achieve.
Someone just needs to draw up more imaginative plans and make the argument that these secure the future of The Championships, enrich the broader community and leave the LTA at worst no worse off. Sounds like a tie break win, doesn’t it?
ICONography
No sooner had I last week questioned Noah Lyles’ likelihood of claiming iconic status coming so soon after Usain Bolt, than I spot the ICON tattoo emblazoned on his side in the opening episode of the new Sprint series on Netflix.
Sprint is the latest in the lengthening string of behind-the-scenes sports productions from Box To Box Films. As yet the company has failed to replicate its phenomenal Drive to Survive in another sport, but Sprint is a return to form after the limp Full Swing in golf and Break Point in tennis. Lyles’ status is deservedly burnished in the process.
Certainly worth a watch ahead of the track & field action in Paris this summer - especially the episodes that focus on the female sprinters. Everyone seeking to promote women’s sport should watch and learn. Personality and prowess on display in equal measure.
Short odds shock
I’ve not been able to shake off a statistic seen in the press a couple of weeks ago after four horses died at a single meet at Newton Abbot. That stat? The British Horseracing Authority reported a fatality rate of 0.37% in jumps races last year. Just think about it. That’s one death for every 270 starters. Would you run a marathon if you thought there was a 1:270 chance of dying? Trainers and owners accept those odds for their horses though.
We’ve all heard the arguments in favour of racing. The horses are bred to race, not diverted from other existences. The horses love to run and jump. Racing has been made safer etc. And of course you can set a human’s broken leg, but that’s not a worthwhile intervention for an injured racehorse. We don’t erect screens around fallen marathoners and put them out of their misery for good. Still, 1:270. Make you think too?
On the bounce
Welcome good news from GB Basketball. Britain’s teams may not have qualified for Paris but they are hosting two nations en route to the Olympics at London’s Copper Box this month. South Sudan’s men are the visitors on 18th and Germany’s women on 21st.
You can buy tickets here
I’m backing at least one of the GB teams to make it to LA28.
Excellent