We are now less than 3 weeks away from the Judicial Review that was called a few months ago by the London Parks and Gardens Trust (LPTG), seeking to remove from the government and its ministers the final decision-making process in relation to this application, handing it over instead to the independent Planning Inspector himself.
LPTG is a small charity that does wonderful work in protecting and promoting green spaces across our capital. In our current Covid19 world, few things are so important to us as greenery and outdoor space. We are hugely indebted to LPGT for promoting this Judicial Review, and we are supporting and backing them, in many ways, and working very closely with their directors.
The outcome of the Judicial Review is extremely important for everyone participating in the ensuing Public Inquiry, as sadly we simply do not trust the independence of anyone connected to the Government. Ours is a clear case of Conflict of Interest and Pre-Determination and in a country with such a long-standing tradition for fairness and the supremacy of the rule of law, it is hard to imagine that we should be finding ourselves in this situation.
This week's good news is that we are really gearing up for the Public Inquiry, with all our wonderful expert witnesses having made huge progress with their scathing Proofs of Evidence, due to be submitted to the Planning Inspector in a very short time. It is amazing to me how many reasons there are to lambast this awful, mindless scheme, that does so little for what it officially sets out to stand for, and so much to upset people who love their heritage, their city and their neighbourhoods.
Finally, as always, this is not just an update, this is also, of course, a huge thank you to all those wonderful people who have contributed to our war chest - we spend so much time counting our pennies, worrying whether we can afford our legal team to help us with this or with that...your help is SO INCREDIBLY APPRECIATED. We still have a long way to go (probably another £30K to cover everything), but we are getting much closer, and the CrowdJustice money is an amazing achievement.
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-victoria-tower-gardens/ PLEASE DONATE TO CROWDJUSTICE (see link above)
....AND NOT TO CHANGE.ORG; MONEY SENT TO CROWDJUSTICE COMES TO US; money sent to Change.org goes to their own admin costs....
THANK YOU, and please spread the word! All ideas for more fundraising hugely appreciated!