RAVENURST RESIDENTS CALL BLUFF OF “BULLYING LAWYERS”

31-03-2008

Residents fighting to protect a green oasis in Harborne have decided to call the bluff of the Birmingham lawyers they’ve accused of "bullying" - and their plight has now attracted national media attention.

Friends of Ravenhurst Playing Fields were told by Pinsent Masons that unless they withdrew an application for the site to be classified as a Village Green by today, they would face a High Court hearing – and be liable for unlimited costs if they lost (http://tinyurl.com/37ygfl).

This is despite the fact that Birmingham Council had set a date for an independent tribunal to judge the application next month.

Campaign leader David Rigby said, “The Council have told us they’ve been issued with a similar warning but they have taken legal advice and say they have no intention of being rushed into anything. In that case, neither do we.

“Pinsents might want us to make a decision by today, but we want more time to think. We’re calling their bluff.”

Pinsents argument is that because Councillor John Alden has lent his support to the campaigners, the local authority can not be viewed as truly independent.

Alden describes that idea as “tosh”, but has officially withdrawn his backing anyway so that Pinsent’s can’t use his involvement as a lever (http://tinyurl.com/2ke97b).

The playing fields were once home to Kings Norton Rugby Club but have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair by their owners, the Catholic Fathers of the Oratory, who know want to build a housing estate there.

After being featured in the Birmingham Mail, the case has now been picked up nationally by GMTV.