URGENT! PROTECT CLAPHAM COMMON
The People of Clapham vs Lambeth Council
Please DONATE to our fighting fund here Friends of Clapham Common: Fighting Fund
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Lambeth Council looks to be going ahead with the Festival Republic major commercial events from 16 August to 9 September 2021 despite not receiving the required legal consent from the Secretary of State for the Environment. The Secretary of State has confirmed that he will not be in a position to make a decision either way by 16 August 2021.
Going ahead without consent is ILLEGAL.
We have already spent nearly £5000 on legal advice in trying to stop Lambeth Council including sending the Council a solicitor’s letter before action (4 August 2021) and a solicitor’s letter setting out our legal case (11 August 2021).
If Lambeth Council don’t back down, we may need to get an injunction to stop them.
We need donations to our FIGHTING FUND to stop Lambeth Council totally ignoring the rule of law and our protected rights as Commoners, otherwise in future they will just ignore the law because no one tried to stop them this time.
To Donate to our fighting fund go here: Friends of Clapham Common: Fighting Fund
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
The last series of events on the “events site” resulted in huge damage to the ground which meant the Council had to spend £200,000 to fence off the site from September 2020 to June 2021 to repair the ground and allow the newly seeded grass to recover. The grass is still fragile and cannot withstand the trampling of 40,000 music festival visitors per day over the August Bank Holiday weekend, let alone the huge stages, marquees, lighting rigs and amenity blocks that will need to be erected along with the heavy vehicles and machinery needed to install the structures.
Given the extensive damage done to the ground from the previous events, it is likely that the “events site” will need to be fenced off again leaving a large part of the Common unusable for many months of the year. This cycle is set to be repeated year after year because Lambeth Council has signed a contract with Festival Republic to host major events every year from 2020-2025.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP LAMBETH COUNCIL BREAKING THE LAW?
We could ask the Court to grant an INJUNCTION to stop the Council starting work to create the events site on Clapham Common. The installation starts on 16 August 2021.
We have a legal team on standby to petition the Court. Will you help us raise the money to pay the costs of our legal team to prepare a challenge, either this time or next time?
Our barrister is confident that we will win and so has agreed to act on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. Our solicitor has agreed to limit her costs to £10,000 plus VAT.If we lose, we will also need to pay the Council’s costs limited to £10,000.
Please consider how much you value the peace and the natural environment of Clapham Common. Please consider how letting Lambeth Council go ahead with these events without central government consent sets a dangerous precedent for future events on our Common and all Commons.
Please consider how much you would be prepared to pay to protect our Common now and in the futureand donate that amount today.
476 people wrote to the Secretary of State with their objections. Thank you to all those who did that! If every one of those people donated £50 we would have enough to challenge Lambeth Council in Court. Please donate more if you can.
BEFORE 28 AUGUST 2021 PLEASE DONATE TO THE FRIENDS OF CLAPHAM COMMON in order to create a FIGHTING FUND to hold Lambeth Council to account in respect of the events on Clapham Common. The funds will be used to challenge Lambeth Council this time, or if we can’t do it this time, then next time.
Friends of Clapham Common: Fighting Fund
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