Judicial review over bizarre policy threatening street traders
BIRMINGHAM street traders have been granted a judicial review of a bizarre new council policy requiring them to sell “innovative products”.
They claim the new directive, which includes a non-refundable £724 application fee, will mean longrunning city businesses will close.
The policy includes a requirement for traders to sell items not available elsewhere on the high street – but the city council has so far not given any examples of what these would include.
Now the council is set to be challenged at a High Court hearing due to take place after March 26.
Allan and Samantha Poole, chair and secretary of the Birmingham Street Traders’ Association, have one stall at the junction of New Street and the High Street and another on Corporation Street, and have been operating in the city for almost 50 years. The pair, who are leading the campaign against the policy, said: “We have tried time and time again to engage the council in meaningful conversation about the new policy, which if implemented would have a hugely detrimental impact on the sustainability of Birmingham-based street traders.
“Their actions will cause irreparable damage to the soul of our city and threaten the livelihoods of many long-standing stallholders. We are very sad to have reached a position where we are forced to have our case heard in court, but we feel we have no choice. It is now a matter for a judge to decide.”
Law firm Simpson Millar will act on behalf of the association at the hearing, and is due to argue traders would be “at the mercy of what retail shops chose to do each time they applied to renew”. Solicitor Dan
Rosenberg said: “While it is disappointing that the concerns raised by my clients repeatedly have gone unaddressed, we are grateful to have been granted permission for the matter to now be heard in court.”
A council spokesperson previously said: “We will robustly defend our position against any challenge but given the start of this legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
ACORONER has condemned a car breakdown firm after a schoolgirl was killed when she was clipped by an oversized wing mirror guard on a 7.5-tonne lorry.
Holly Chevassut, 14, was struck by the Izuzu flatbed lorry while she walked along a dark unlit country road.
She suffered a “traumatic spinal cord injury” after the crash on Plough Lane in Harbury, Warkwickshire, on October 31, 2018.
She was rushed to hospital but died two days later.
An inquest into her death found she was hit by a plastic guard encasing the truck’s wing mirror.
On the day of the incident Holly was walking down a narrow road with no footpaths at around 5.30pm. It was dark and as the truck, owned by GRS Recovery, drove past her, Holly was clipped by the mirror protector. By law, wing mirrors must stick out less than 20cms from the widest part of the vehicle but the inquest heard the guards on GRS vans exceeded that.
Assistant Coroner for Warwickshire Tom Leeper has written to the truck firm ordering an investigation into the mirror guards.
In his coroner’s report he said: “During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern.
“In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.
“GRS continues to operate vehicles with mirrors and guards the height of which are under two metres from the road surface and which project more than 20cms from the widest part of those vehicles.
“Such a configuration creates a risk of personal injury and death to people overtaken by these vehicles.”
GRS Recovery confirmed they had now altered the mirrors and guards on their vans to comply with the regulations.
After the hearing, Holly’s family paid tribute to their “beautiful daughter”.
In a statement, they said: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter.
“Holly was a wonderful young woman; talented, creative, funny and beautiful.
“She made us laugh, sometimes cry and we are so very proud of her, of all she achieved and all that she might have become.
“She is much-loved by her family and friends and will be greatly missed.
“We would like to thank all the emergency services and the staff at University Hospital in Coventry for the care and respect they gave to Holly and us, the many friends of Holly for their thoughtful and caring messages, and our friends and family for their ongoing love and support.”
ASTON Villa have condemned the “sickening and abhorrent” racist abuse suffered by their young forward Tyreik Wright and are working with West Midlands police in their investigation into the incident.
The 19-year-old forward, who is on loan at Walsall, received a torrent of abuse last Tuesday night after posting a news story about schoolchildren avoiding criminal charges for a racially motivated attack on another student.
The Republic of Ireland Under-19 international posted screenshots of the messages he then received on Instagram. He shared them with the caption: “Received these from someone. It’s never gonna stop!!”
The Aston Villa Academy account on Twitter also shared the messages. Villa have now released a statement condemning the abuse and confirming West Midlands Police are investigating.
The statement read: “Aston Villa Football Club is appalled by the racist abuse of one of our academy players, Tyreik Wright.
“Tyreik, who is currently on loan at Walsall, received sickening and abhorrent messages via his Instagram account, messages which the club have reported to both the social media platform and West Midlands Police.
“The club is liaising with WMP’s Hate Crime Unit, who are now investigating this incident. Aston Villa will work alongside Walsall FC to provide Tyreik with any support he requires and will continue to do everything we can to report and help root out all forms of discrimination.”
Walsall also immediately condemned the abuse, saying in a statement: “Walsall Football Club are appalled by the racist abuse on loan winger Tyreik Wright has received online.
“As soon as we were made aware of the abhorrent messages, sent to him via Instagram, we spoke with Tyreik and his parent club, Aston Villa, and reported it to West Midlands Police and their Hate Crime Unit.
“Wright is a Republic of Ireland youth international and received a message of support from Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph, who said: “Another day the same issues SMH (shaking my head)”.
The abuse of Wright by accounts online comes amid calls from the Football Association for something to be done after a number of players revealed that they had been abused online, one of them former Villa loanee Axel Tuanzebe of Manchester United.
A statement released by the FA two weeks ago called on social media websites to do more to stop it happening and demanded the Government to bring in legislation that could help.