Katharine Hoskyns, 89, has been told she may have to remove the street garden she has tended for more than 25 years near her home in St John's Wood, northwest London, after neighbours complained it was attracting 'antisocial behaviour'.
The retired teacher created the garden around a bench with plant pots, cultivating geraniums, tomatoes and herbs. She says she loves looking after the plants and that many neighbours help her maintain the garden.
Council issues removal notice
Last month, Westminster City Council (WCC) issued her a notice asking her to remove the bench and plants following a 'series of complaints from residents' that the site is attracting 'antisocial behaviour'. The council said it was 'reluctantly' obliged to start a formal process but hoped the situation could be resolved 'amicably'.
Katharine claims only one neighbour has complained about the garden. She said: 'There is just one person who doesn't like it. They thought there was antisocial behaviour on the bench. There is no antisocial behaviour.'
Community support and fight back
The garden is close to Abbey Road and near the studio where the Beatles famously recorded many of their albums. The Abbey Road orchestra has nicknamed the street 'The Pots' because of Katharine's work.
Katharine has lived in the area since the 1960s and slowly added the plant pots over the years. She said: 'The council put in parking, so I had cars parked outside my house where I used to have a nice space. I decided instead of being miserable about it I was going to make the space nice again. I love it because I can go and potter around with my pots and people come up and talk to me. It is nice and sociable. I was really upset when I got the letter. It doesn't cause obstruction.'
The letter, sent at the end of July, said WCC had received complaints from 'members of the local community'. It added that the council believed the garden could cause issues, stating that fallen pots could cause injury and the bench has not been confirmed as 'structurally safe'.
Katharine has decided to fight back and replied to the letter with help from her family, arguing their side and attaching a petition started by her son and signed by more than 60 locals at the time. The date to remove the plants has now passed with no action from WCC, but Katharine believes their fight is not yet over.
She said: 'They will probably be in contact again but we will just keep replying when they do. It is not just me now, loads of people are involved and helping with the fight. The neighbours volunteer and help a lot. It is a community thing as well as for me.'
WCC previously installed a camera by the garden to monitor possible antisocial behaviour. Katharine claims they have not found any.
Council response
A Westminster city council spokesperson said: 'Following a series of resident complaints and attempts to resolve this dispute informally over several years, the council was, reluctantly, obliged to begin a formal process. Residents should be able to live without anti-social behaviour impacting on their lives. Moving this bench will help reduce the recent disturbance in the area. We remain hopeful that we can resolve the situation amicably.'
