The Battle for the Cafés can go to Court, a Judge has Ruled.

A judge has ruled that the City of London do have to answer in court for the way they made the decision to award their North London Open Spaces cafés to the Daisy Green chain. On 13 October Mr Justice Sheldon (pictured above) ruled that  Hoxton Beach, who currently run the cafés at Queens Park, Parliament Hill Fields Lido and Highgate Wood, had made an 'arguable' case that the bidding process was flawed and unfair. He did accept the City's request for a Judicial Review to be speeded up, with a one and half day hearing to be held not later than  Thursday 17 December.  This is as it happens is a year to the day after the City announced that all the existing café operators would lose their tenancies, later clarifying that Cosmin Stuparu of Golders Hill Park would be compensated with a contract for Highgate Wood. 

This is an incredible result.  Fewer than 20% of  claims for Judicial Review get past the permission stage. The City were adamant that this was a hopeless case, without merit, 'unarguable'.  So how did we get past a hurdle that causes four out of five claimants to stumble?

First the credit has to go to the people who work in the affected cafés. No one signs a petition or goes to a fund raising event to defend an institution unless their heart is in it.

Second the credit goes to you and the 25,000 like you who signed this petition.  Many of you signed an earlier version, which was considered by the City of London in early December, but which City officers argued was invalid. That petition had around 18,000 signatures. Within a few weeks in the dead of winter we had proved there was real and solid support for keeping cafés as community institutions rather than speculative vehicles for investors.

Finally today's result will put the spotlight on the incredible legal team who, inspired by your backing, put together winning arguments, with either modest funding or working pro bono.  In its final form this comprised two excellent barristers, Gretta Schumacher and Remi Reichhold, and the rightly celebrated solicitors firm of Leigh Day, who are rarely out of the news when issues of major public significance are at stake.

We need your help now more than ever and will be in touch shortly with some ideas to move the campaign forwards.  For now thank you and we all may permit ourselves, in Churchill's phrase, 'a brief period of rejoicing'.