Brent Council in the High Court over library closures
The campaign to save local libraries in Brent is about to reach The High Court. The Judicial Review challenging Brent’s closure programme will take place tomorrow and Wednesday at the High Court with the Hearing starting at 1030 and will likely go on until 16.30.
Campaigners are urging supporters to come along and witness the proceedings and to join a rally at 1615. A group will be meeting at Kensal Green station at 8.15am on Tuesday 19th to travel there together.
This has been a long, hard road for the campaigners, who have committed their time to fight the council's decision, as well as contest the consultation process. Along with other local campaigns ( 'Save the Charteris Sports Centre' also in Brent and 'Save the Portobello Road Market' in Kensington and Chelsea, among others), these citizens actions demonstrate in no uncertain terms the vitality and determination of local communities. They set an example of what citizens are prepared to do when pushed, shoved and held in contempt by their local political representatives: a modern example of citizenship in action that ought to be celebrated.
The Judicial Review will be the day of reckoning. The campaigners are confident that they have a strong case and if they win, they will set a precedent that opens up the way for more challenges from communities across the land.
John Halford, the award-winning solicitor acting on behalf of Brent SOS Libraries campaign expects a decision to come fairly soon after the hearing dates.
The Campaigners arguments are :
That the Council adopted a fundamentally flawed, and unlawful, approach to the objective of making savings in its budget in this case, in particular because it:
started from the false premise that library closures were an inevitability (thereby closing its mind to reasonable alternatives);
failed to assess local need at the right time, or adequately;
failed to comply with equality legislation, and its own impact assessment policies; and
failed to disclose its criteria, and reasons, for rejecting alternative community-based means of retaining some or all of the libraries earmarked for closure.
The closure decision will have serious, and probably irreversible, consequences for those who rely on the six libraries in question, including the Claimants.
Given the importance of the decision for local people, the Council was obliged to explore all the options carefully and make sure that it had accurate evidence about the likely impact of the decision, in particular on disadvantaged groups. If the Council had approached the matter with an open mind and avoided the errors above, the outcome of the decision-making process could have been radically different.
DOCUMENTS:
Grounds for Brent SOS’s (our) claim:
Below are the papers filed by Brent Council in their defence:
240611-Brent-Libraries-Detailed Grounds of Resistance
Other relevant links:
http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/
For the High Court address and further info.
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