Stefan Simanowitz is asked to take away a banner
POTENTIAL new coffee shop operators on Hampstead Heath could see demonstrations during estate agent viewings today (Thursday). Fans of the existing cafés on Parliament Hill Fields and the Lido – two popular independent businesses – are planning to gather outside as interested parties are given a tour.
The show of support follows weeks of messages to the City of London, the guardians of the Heath, that customers do not want the current set-up changed – and chains are not welcome.
The City has asked agents to remarket five eateries used by visitors to the Heath, putting the future in doubt for the D’Auria family, which has run the Parliament Hill Fields café for more than 40 years, and Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez who run the one at the open-air pool.
Campaigners said this week they had been warned the protest would not be allowed due to by-laws governing the open space and that the Heath Constabulary had confiscated a banner.
Their campaign has already garnered high-profile support from broadcaster Jeremy Vine, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, former Tory MP Jo Johnson and TV barrister Rob Rinder.
Protest organiser Stefan Simanowitz said he had learned the viewings would take place today as he put a call out for supporters to meet first at the bandstand at 9.15am and then move to the Lido cafe at 10am.
He said: “We will gather outside the Lido café to protest the tendering of the leases, despite a warning from the City of London that the planned demonstration might be in breach of their Open Spaces Events Policy.
An email from the City states: “Please be advised that these proposed events have not been authorised and may not occur, but we expect people to gather at 10am for a lively protest which is billed to include speeches, puppets and music.”
He said a banner put up on trees near the Lido had been removed by City constabulary.
Mr Simanowitz added: “The aim of this protest is to demonstrate both to the City of London Corporation and to companies vying to take over the cafés that there is a huge amount of grassroots support for keeping these independent cafes as they are.
“There will be no microphones or amplified sound and we fail to see why a group of people gathering on the Heath to express our genuine concern should be treated any differently to any of the large picnics which are allowed to take place on the Heath every week.
“Whilst our banners and our placards can be confiscated and demonstrators can be dispersed, their Save Our Cafés message will not be silenced.”
Objectors fear the City of London is on a cost-cutting drive which will put the balance sheet ahead of the cafes’ popularity.
Doug Crawford, who led the campaign to save the cafes nine years ago and became a member of the City’s Cafe Working Group, told the New Journal there were plans for a “memory book” in the Parliament Hill Fields Cafe so the generations of customers could show quite how much the place means to the neighbourhood.
He said: “There is a great strength of feeling, a popular demand for the current operators to remain in place.”
A spokesperson for the City of London, which manages the Heath as a charity, said: “All café operators are trading under tenancies at will, which are short-term arrangements.
“A competitive re-marketing process will help us to ensure a high-quality visitor experience. and to continue to meet the needs of local people.
“We deeply appreciate the long-standing contributions of our café operators, some of whom have been part of the Heath for generations. Their experience and dedication are valued, and they are being encouraged to take part in this opportunity. We welcome proposals that reflect the Heath’s unique character and community spirit.”
