Once again Jessica's efforts have been unsuccessful. This is a huge disappointment. The judge had nothing to say on the merits of Jessica's case but determined the matter entirely on the Council's decision process. Apparently the Council had no duty to consider whether or not the tree was causing damage, it only had to consider the possibility that it might be doing so, no matter that there was no evidence to support that assertion. The threshold needed to find that the Council had behaved unreasonably is clearly much higher than the Vernon Oak.  The tree, it appears, is irrelevant. 

Our compliments to the Environmental Law Foundation and to the barrister Kimberley Ziya of Landmark Chambers who presented Jessica's case with great skill and conviction.

It looks as though this is the end of the road for the Vernon Oak. Thank you all for joining Jessica in trying to save it.

The application for the Judicial Review to proceed will be heard in the High Court in London tomorrow, 6 October 2021, at 2.0pm.  Deputy Judge Tim Smith, who is a solicitor judge and a leading expert on planning issues will be sitting. Jessica will be represented by Kimberley Ziya of Landmark Charmbers, supported by the Environmental Law Foundation. Unfortunately there is no live link to the hearing.

Fingers crossed!

Alas we did not do well at the interim hearing. The judge decided for the interested parties and consented to the near complete felling of the tree. It may now lawfully be cut down to within 5m of the ground. We are told that a judge has complete discretion to choose between one expert’s opinion and another, and there is effectively nothing that can be done when such a choice is made. The procedure does not allow any cross-examination of experts and no consideration was given during the hearing to the facts that supported our expert’s opinions. We have never heard of it being necessary to prune a tree down to a stump in order, allegedly, to make it safe. A big disappointment.

The case however is not over. The primary intention was to save this beautiful tree. But behind this was the - perhaps more important - secondary intention to correct the decision of Oxford City Council to allow the Vernon Oak to be felled. Our engineer's view is that despite the allegation that the tree has been causing building settlement, the data showed no evidence of this at all.

Local Authorities are fearful of insurance firms bringing claims for compensation when these applications are refused. Too often consents are given to fell important and healthy trees merely to avoid this risk. That, in our view is both unreasonable and unlawful. So, although the Vernon Oak may sadly perish on a developer's disputed evidence, we hope we shall be allowed to take this serious and important question forward to review.

Jessica's case is being supported pro bono by the Environmental Law Foundation. If the funds raised by this CrowdJustice campaign exceed her legal costs, then any remaining amount will be given to the Foundation, which is a charity. However, the risk of a very expensive adverse costs order has to be considered, and that is why your support for this cause is so important and so valued. Thank you for what you have done already.

In 2006, in an earlier attempt to have the Vernon Oak felled, Graham Clarkson and Harriet Green engaged an arboriculturist to say that the Vernon Oak had "less than normal vitality". He then said the tree would be dead within 10 years. Removing the tree opened a way onto the land so that five luxury houses could be built covering over this "green lung" in the heart of the city. The application was thrown out and the tree has ever since shown strong, healthy growth.

After all these years, those arguments have now been rasied again. A different arboriculturist now says that the tree is "certain" to fail this autumn. So Jessica has engaged an internationally recognised arboriculturist, Julian Forbes-Laird, to assess the evidence. Julian says that the Vernon Oak is "in satisfactory physiological condition, with no impairment to growth and vitality".

No-one wishes to object to the tree being pruned conservatively to maintain its appearance and safety - it is after all an urban tree. But this application appears designed to disfigure the tree to such an extent that little more than a stump will remain. This gross depletion of the canopy will ensure that the tree will have no remaining amenity or habitat value. Its felling would then be inevitable for the City Council would have no reason to protect it. The Council will be off the hook.

Tomorrow, Thursday 23 September 2021,  the two competing arboricultural arguments are to be determined by the High Court. Jessica is being represented by Kimberly Ziya of Landmark Chambers. 

The case will be heard remotely using MS Teams. It is a public hearing and Jessica encourages her supporters and ambassadors to join. Find the time of the hearing here. 

To get a link email [email protected] and quote the case number CO/2032/2021 Upton v Oxford City Council etc.

Thanks again for your invaluable support. 

We have increased our financial target from £5,000 to £8,000 today to cover the cost of defending this application.That is tough but if we do not defend it, the Vernon Oak will not survive. This handsome tree now depends on the willingness of altriuistic and generous environmentalists like you in order to survive. So, if you can help the Vernon Oak a little bit more please do so, and thank you!

More good news.  On the Friday before the August bank holiday, two-day parking bay suspension notices went up in Lathbury Road. Our suspicion was that Harriet Green and Graham Clarkson were planning to erect scaffolding so that they could fell the tree ahead of the Judicial Review hearing - without any hindrance from demonstrators. 

At seven o'clock on Wednesday 1st September, the morning before the permitted closure day, Nicholsons (a landscape contractor), arrived to erect fencing unlawfully - but too late! Before the site could be secured, neighbours and XR friends rushed out and populated the footpath. Once again the demonstrators were exercising their ancient right to "pass and repass along the way" and to "stop to rest and admire the view". A furious Graham Clarkson hit one of the peaceful demonstrators and tried to grab his phone. The police were called and arrived in force. It was soon decided that the contractors had no power to expel the law-abiding demonstrators, as none of them was obstructing the highway. Work was prevented and another day's reprieve was won. However, stronger protection was needed, so Jessica turned to the law.

Putting the notices up on that Friday meant that Jessica had to find a barrister who could prepare an application for "interim relief" over the bank holiday week-end.  This is how Kimberley Ziya, a barrister at Landmark Chambers, framed the application:

This is an application for judicial review of the Council's decision to grant consent to the felling of a protected oak tree on Lathbury Road, Oxford.  The hearing of the Claimant's renewed application for permission to apply for judicial review has been listed for 6th October 2021. Despite this, plans appear to have been put in place on Friday 27th August 2021 for the tree to be felled over the course of Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd September 2021. Such action would wholly undermine the purpose of the present proceedings and render the oral renewal hearing in October futile.

On 1 September, Judge Timothy Straker QC granted the injunction, preventing anyone from felling, maiming or in any other way injuring the tree and warning them that if the penal notice was not complied with, "you may be held in contempt of court and imprisoned or fined, or your assets seized". So, once again the Veron Oak is safe.

Your generous contributions have paid for the legal advice which secured the injunction; thank you!

We are moving forward! The application for a review of the permission decision has been granted, with a hearing date on 6 October. This will be an oral hearing in front of a different judge. Jessica and her friends are cautiously optimistic about this, believing that her arguments have merit – with the facts wholly supporting those arguments.

However, on Friday, notices for the suspension of the parking bays near the Vernon Oak were posted in the street. The dates – undoubtedly the intended dates for another attempt to fell the tree – are Thursday 2 and Friday 3 September.

As a neighbour said: “Posting the notices is provocative and inequitable given that the decision is now being challenged”. Another friend of Jessica said: “Cynically and sadly, it’s no surprise that the notice has gone up just before a bank holiday”.

As you will have seen, we have reached the “stretch target” of £5,000. Heartfelt thanks everyone for contributing so generously. The fund is being left open for a while because, as yet, we don’t know which way it’s going; but it’s very good to have reached this target.

Jessica’s application for Judicial Review has unfortunately been refused by HHJ Allan Gore QC.  However, legal advice is clear that this decision should be challenged. The judge said that the claim is about the merits of the Council's decision to allow the Vernon Oak to be felled. But as required, the challenge is against irrationality and procedural flaws in the Council's decision.

More particularly, the judge has refused to provide Jessica with costs protection under the Aarhus Convention rules despite the City Council’s agreement to this being an Aarhus claim, and this is worrying.

So an application for review of the decision is being made today.  Jessica is resolute despite the risks.  She is not a quitter.

Thank you very much for your continuing support. Now it is very much needed! 

Please pass this on and tell your friends.

This is amazing. We've already covered the costs of the technical advice, the court fees and the barrister's advice, and we are now on the way to funding the next stage in the Judicial Review process.

Now that the case has gone live, Jessica wants to assure you of the responsible way this case is being run.  Firstly, before any legal step was taken, technical advice was obtained that highlighted the arbitrary and mistaken decision of the Council. The report made a careful analysis of all the facts before concluding that the Council had acted without justification.

Secondly, Jessica is being advised by the Environmental Law Foundation. The advice she has been given has been to the point and crucial. Representing Jessica in Court is Paul Powlesland who describes himself as a rights of nature barrister. His representations to the Court have been concise, fluent and precisely reasoned. 

Thirdly, ELF has engaged ShieldPay to provide transparent payment solutions. Your money will be looked after by them.  Everything will be properly accountable.

We know that you want this case to suceed, so may we give you some pointers on how you can get involved?

• Email five of your friends that have the environment at heart asking them to pledge to Jessica's case
• Post a link to Facebook saying you are supporting the case financially and asking your friends also to pledge
• Tweet often in support with the hashtag #VernonOak.
• And, please, pledge again!

Once again, thank you!