City of London Corporation to hear legal advice over St Paul's protest camp
The City of London Corporation has called a special meeting of its planning and transportation committee for Friday (28 October) to hear legal advice on possible action to clear the highways around St Paul’s Cathedral of campers.
The committee will meet in private session to consider the legal advice. The City of London Corporation is the highways authority for the Square Mile.
Stuart Fraser, Policy and Resources Chairman of the City of London Corporation, is also to brief all the City’s elected members at an informal meeting tomorrow afternoon.
He said: “The long-drawn legal battle over Parliament Square has made it imperative to get the very best legal advice about how to keep the City’s highways free of campers. That advice is now almost in place and the Planning and Transportation Committee could hear that advice as early as Friday.”
Fraser insisted that the committee’s work would not be pre-empted. “'Of course, we fully support the right of people to express their views through peaceful demonstration, but no city can be a campsite,” he said.
“We hope common sense will prevail and those camping around the Cathedral will recognise that they are damaging the integrity of their protest by their actions – and they decide to disperse in a peaceful manner.”
Fraser said that if the campaigners did not disperse, the Corporation was “looking at making sure we have the full range of options – including court action – ready to hand.’’
St Paul’s Cathedral has issued a number of public statements in recent days, including an announcement from the Dean, Graeme Knowles, last Friday that – after a meeting of the members of the Chapter and following reports from independent health, safety and fire officers – it had written to the protesters to say it had “no lawful alternative” but to close.
An open letter from Occupy London Stock Exchange said the Cathedral had not provided them with details of how they were perceived to be threatening health and safety.
STOP PRESS: City of London votes to take legal action over protest camp at St Paul's
