Public Need versus Private Interest: The Case of the Hurlingham Club, 1945–1948.

The Hurlingham Club, the governing body of the elite sport of polo, was threatened after World War II with the loss of all 75 acres of its property in the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham. After protracted negotiations with the London County Council and a public inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, the club lost its two polo fields to housing and a public park. However, it retained, as it does to this day, the remaining 40 acres of its land. This paper seeks to explain the survival of this elite institution at a time when political and social egalitarianism enjoyed sweeping influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]