Thames Ditton Lawn Tennis Club
Encyclopedia
Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was established in 1882, nine years after the official rules of lawn tennis were laid down. It is the oldest lawn tennis club still on its original site. Long after most clubs have replaced grass with various types of all-weather surface, Thames Ditton retains six outstanding grass courts, which are maintained by the same groundsman who looks after Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
.
Legal history
In the late 1990s, as the lease of the land on which the Club plays came to an end, the survival of the TDLTC came under threat. The owner of the freehold wanted to sell the site to a residential developer. A question was raised in the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
about the vulnerability of sports clubs to greedy developers: Hansard. The case entered the legal textbooks as Coppin v Bruce-Smith [1998] EGCS 55 (CA). Briefly:
In Coppin-Smith, the premises comprised Thames Ditton Lawn Tennis Club, which included ten tennis courts and a pavilion, together covering over 2 acres (8,093.7 m²). The tenants, the trustees of the club, served a s26 request on the landlord, who served a counter-notice stating that he would resist a new lease on ground. Before the hearing, the landlord applied for planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
for the site, which was refused on the ground of the loss of a recreational open space. The landlord then decided to demolish the buildings and courts on the basis that this would make it easier in the future to obtain planning consent.
At the hearing, the Court of Appeal had to consider whether the landlord had established a 'reasonable prospect' of success (using the test in Cadogan). The landlord's expert gave evidence that the proposed demolition could be carried out without planning permission. The Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
considered whether this was correct in the light of the 1995 direction that planning consent for demolition is required only for dwelling houses. It decided that, contrary to the landlord's expert's view, planning permission would be required as the works were more aptly described as engineering works than demolition works. It was agreed that the landlord would encounter the same objection as previously when applying for planning permission. Accordingly, it held that the landlord could not show the necessary firm and settled intention to demolish the premises and was unable to resist the tenant's application for a new lease.
The club today
- Andrew Meatyard (Chairman)
- Mike SimpsonMike Simpson (writer)Mike Simpson is a British writer and educator. He described his experiences as a teacher in That'll Teach You! under the pen-name of Michael James...
- Shaun Freeman
- Graeme Boddy
- Martha Gordon (Secretary)
- Gavin Wilson Treasurer)
- Anne Simpson
- Peter Newman (Vice-chairman)
- Stephen Banham (Bar Secretary)
- Guy Phillips (Membership Secretary)
- John Hutton-Attenborough (Juniors)