Queen's Market
Queen's Market is a traditional London street market in one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse boroughs in London. Developers planned to build a block of luxury flats on top of the market, threatening local people's supply of fresh, affordable and culturally appropriate food.
Friends of Queen's Market had already been campaigning for some time when they approached the Rights and Justice Centre. As well as coming along to our Power Up event, local campaigners worked with the Rights and Justice team to challenge the local authority's approach to the planning application.
We worked with Maria, who is a local mum with two young children who relies on the market for fresh fruit and vegetables for her family.
Maria and our lawyers brought a legal challenge against the council, who hadn't done a proper Equalities Impact assessment (EqIA) of the plans.
EqIA's are used to assess the impact of the proposals, as a way of meeting legal equalities duties. All public authorities have a legal duty to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination for all racial groups
- Promote equal opportunities
- Promote good race relations
The Council had to carry out a new EqIA which delayed the project by some months.
The legal case, along with a fantastic campaign by Friends of Queen's Market, led to the refusal of the application by the London Mayor.
© Friends of Queens Market
