Liberal Democrat takes on Council in High Court to stop kids being placed in containers

10.55.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 17th Mar 2008

Cllr Eaton (left) with a local family at Mowlem nursery

On Wednesday the High Court will consider an application for judicial review of Tower Hamlets Council's Development Committee's decision to grant planning permission for a Children's Centre made out of shipping containers. Ward Councillor Stephanie Eaton will present the arguments on behalf of residents, former parents and others who feel that the children of Bethnal Green North deserve an excellent Children's Centre.

The development decision which is being challenged on three grounds is the site known as the Mowlem Workplace Nursery. Surrounded by housing blocks, the site currently houses a beautiful Edwardian former special school which could be sympathetically extended and developed to create architecture that would enhance the local area and bring joy to all who use the Children's Centre. Instead, a brutalist rectangular dump of containers has been approved - although the legal arguments will hinge on whether that decision was taken lawfully.

Cllr Eaton said today: "This is a David and Goliath legal case: against a group of concerned local residents we have the might of the Council's Legal Services, Children's Services and Development directorate. But this is an issue of public interest. Children should be educated and their parents cared for in proper, environmentally sustainable buildings. A collection of shipping containers designed to last for 25 years is not appropriate. We hope the court will listen to our arguments that this decision was taken improperly and therefore should be reconsidered"

The hearing is at 1030 on Wednesday 19th March in the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand.