99-year-old threatens to chain herself to All England Club to stop Wimbledon expansion - 'Let them arrest me'
The All England Club is pushing forward with plans to expand
PA
A 99-year-old veteran actress is prepared to chain herself to the ground of the All England Club in protest over their plans to expand Wimbledon.
The Wimbledon Park Golf Club was sold to the All England Club five years ago with plans for the 23-acre site to be redeveloped for new tennis courts.
But the expansion plans have been met with pushback from local residents who fear 10 years of disruption.
The All England Club want a new 8,000-seat show court to go along with 38 other grass courts.
The proposals would allow qualifying to take place at the All England Club, as opposed to the sports centre at Roehampton.
The All England Club is pushing forward with plans to expand
PA
The size of the development stretches over borders of both Merton and Wandsworth Councils and they've been unable to agree on the proposals.
Merton gave their approval to the plans, but Wandsworth rejected the scheme last November.
There is concern that development will cause irreparable harm to protected Metropolitan Open Land.
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Local resident Thelma Ruby, who has been acting since 1944, is ready to stage a protest against the proposals in order to protect the land.
While speaking at a public meeting organised by Save Wimbledon Park, Ruby threatened to 'chain myself to the grounds' of the All England Club.
When asked whether she was afraid of being arrested, Ruby added: "No, I'm 99. Let them arrest me."
The actress felt the need to act after a conversation with someone 'from the tennis courts'.
“I said: ‘What’s going to happen?’” she added.
“He said: ‘Oh, all the trees will be cut down, and there will be eight tennis courts between you and the lake and it’ll take years to build.’
The Wimbledon Park Golf Club was sold in 2018
PA
“This beautiful view I get when I look out of my window is not only going to be a building site, but there are going to be polluting lorries passing my window every 10 minutes.
"And we know, in this day and age, how important trees are.
"I look several times a day out of the window and enjoy my view. And it gives me strength to carry on.”
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The proposal was referred to the Greater London Authority (GLA) after Wandsworth Council's rejection last November.
It was revealed last week that the GLA have recommended the Deputy Mayor should grant conditional planning permission.
London mayor Sadiq Khan excused himself from the process after expressing support for the development plans three years ago.
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