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Benny and Michelle Gasparini with Cllr Klute |
Restaurant couple win eviction battle
Redevelopment looms but court backs reprieve
OWNERS of a Finsbury bistro have fought off the latest Town Hall attempt to evict them.
Benny and Michelle Gasparini have been battling since 2002 to stop Islington Council closing their restaurant, La Paquerette in Finsbury Square, to make way for a proposed redevelopment.
A county court judge ruled last month that the council was wrong to refuse to extend the restaurant’s lease when the redevelopment plans are not yet ready to go ahead.
The couple now face an agonising wait as the judge decides how long they can keep their lease.
Mrs Gasparini said: “It has caused us so much distress. It’s so unfair. It’s driving us mad. Our lives are upside down.
“The council’s been trying to terminate our lease for many, many years. It’s very difficult to run a business with this uncertainty. We have to go back to the court in February because we still don’t know how long our lease is for.
“We don’t know if it’s going to be one, five or 15 years. I would like as much time as possible to make the business the way we want it.”
She added: “The council should be punished for the damage they have done to us for so long.”
Under the proposals, a 2,000-seat underground concert hall and conference centre would be built, with a 90ft high concrete arch stretching over the square,
Mrs Gasparini said: “The square is in a bad shape. Something needs to be done but for the time being, while they put the plans together, why not keep La Paquerette?
“The council is strong, with so much money to fight. It’s depressing, upsetting because you don’t know what you’re going to do. We are not young, we should be retired.”
Labour councillor Martin Klute, who gave evidence in the couple’s favour, said: “The council failed to convince the court it was ready to redevelop. It’s a victory for honesty, democracy and transparency because the council was attempting, in its arrogant way, to push the Gasparinis out when it has no firm plans.”
Islington’s Lib Dem leisure chief Councillor Ruth Polling said: “We’re currently considering our options as plans to redevelop Finsbury Square, which is council-owned land, date back to 1999.
“In 2006 the executive approved plans for such a scheme and we also have the necessary funds available. A further legal hearing takes place next month, so it would be inappropriate to comment further.” |
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