Shepherd's Bush Market Back in the Court of Appeal on March 2

Shepherd's Bush Market

Spare a thought, once again, for the Shepherd's Bush Market traders, who will be in the Court of Appeal next week, on Wednesday March 2, to contest the latest High Court decision in the ongoing legal battle over the future of the Market.

They have been locked in a five year battle with developer Orion over the future of the site.

The most recent event in this long-running legal dispute occurred almost a year ago, in July 2015, when market traders appealed the 2014 decision by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to uphold a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) over the site.

Eric Pickles. Wikimedia Commons

Pickles' decision was itself an over-ruling of a previous decision, taken by the Communities Office (full name: Department for Communities and Local Government) which conducted a full-blown Public Inquiry earlier in 2014, held by a senior inspector, Ava Wood.

The enquiry itself followed years of litigation dating back to 2010.

Ms Wood recommended that the proposed plans by Orion held "no security for the market tenants", and also found that the development would affect the "ethnic diversity, independence and small scale retailing environment that is central to the appeal of the area".

She therefore recommended that the Compulsory Purchase Order should not be confirmed and that the development should not go ahead.

In the summer of 2015, Mr Justice Dove (who, oddly, looks a bit like a slimmer version of Eric Pickles) upheld Pickles' decision to overturn the CPO and also rejected an application by the market traders for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Jardynce-v-Jarndyce

So that was the end of it?  Not at all.  Solicitors Leigh Day, who act for the market traders, took the legal challenge to the Court of Appeal, appealing the refusal of a right to appeal.

Confused? You're not the only one.

Like Jarndyce-v-Jarndyce in Charles Dicken's Bleak House, the case seems interminable, of benefit only to the lawyers who feast upon it.

Surely what we can all agree on is that Shepherd's Bush Market needs investment, and also some sense of security for the traders who work there. There ought to be a better way to resolve things than this.

The Bush Telegraph offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog@gmail.com.