City Hall hearing into Allies & Morrison proposals had been due to take place last month
A decision on Allies & Morrison鈥檚 revised plans to expand the grounds of the Wimbledon tennis championships has been delayed until the autumn.
City Hall was due to hold a hearing on the All England Lawn Tennis Club鈥檚 (AELTC) proposals, which would include a new 8,000-seat show court, at the end of last month.
But a hearing to be held by deputy London mayor Jules Pipe will now not take place until September at the earliest, according to a City Hall spokesperson.
The 73-acre scheme would more than treble the size of the grand slam tournament鈥檚 grounds and would be the biggest expansion in the history of the AELTC.
It was approved by Merton council last October but rejected by Wandsworth council the following month due to concerns over the use of metropolitan open land on the site.
The scheme spans both local authority areas and approval from both councils was required for it to go ahead. Pipes called in the application in January this year following the rejection by Wandsworth.
The plans would transform the Wimbledon Park Golf Club which neighbours Wimbledon鈥檚 current home into a sprawling parkland containing 38 new grass courts and a third large show court, adding to the tournament鈥檚 existing Centre Court and No. 1 Court.
Since Pipe鈥檚 decision to call in the application, lead architect Allies & Morrison has submitted revised proposals which would remove some sections of the boundary between the golf club and the adjacent Wimbledon Park to improve public access.
An estate rail between the southern part of the site would also be realigned and landscape improvements would be provided extending into Wimbledon Park.
Planning consultant Rolfe Judd Planning has said the revisions would increase the scheme鈥檚 area of publicly accessible parkland from 9.4ha to 11.1ha.
The revised application is understood to be undergoing further review with City Hall to announce an exact date for the hearing in due course.
At the hearing, Pipe will be provided with a detailed update on the proposals drawn up by Greater London Authority planning officers and hear views from the two councils, the AELTC, and any objectors or supporters.
He will then retire to consider the presentations, usually returning within an hour to announce his decision to either grant or refuse the application. He will also have the option to defer the decision for up to five working days.
The AELTC is currently the only grand slam tournament which is unable to host qualifying rounds on its own grounds due to the constricted nature of its existing site.
The plans for the site also include seven new maintenance buildings and a pedestrian bridge crossing Wimbledon Park Lake, which would be altered and expanded with a de-culverted channel running through part of the parkland alongside the new tennis courts.
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