Despite the protests, Wimbledon has now been given the green light to expand the tennis arena with 39 new grass courts.
The approved expansion plans also include a grandstand with seating for 8,000 spectators.
The Grand Slam arena, All England Tennis Club, will almost triple in size when everything is completed. The Wimbledon Park GC golf course will be taken over.
It was precisely the large-scale expansion that delayed the decision by three years due to protests.
The benefits of developing the arena outweigh the drawbacks, says Jules Pipe, responsible for urban planning in London.
Due to the limited number of tennis courts at the arena, the qualifying rounds for the Grand Slam tournament in June-July have not been able to be held in Wimbledon, but instead in Roehampton, half a mile away.
