A High Court judge has allowed the City of
At the start of a two-day hearing into whether an injunction should be granted to restrict demolition on the site, where the 950,000 sq ft Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed tower is to be constructed, Judge Hodge QC said that the evidence may be relevant and should be allowed.
Insurance firm Hiscox, whose headquarters and more 400 staff occupy neighbouring offices at 1 Great St Helen’s, wants to ensure access to its offices and to establish finite levels of vibration to which demolition contractor Keltbray must adhere.
At an earlier hearing on 19 December 2007, Sir Andrew Morritt CVO granted Hiscox’s application regarding access. However, he refused to impose the finite levels of vibration sought by the insurer because a method statement is already in place between the parties that provides for the involvement of the City of
In its claim form, issued in the High Court on 5 December 2007, Hiscox alleges that it has received numerous reports from its staff concerning health problems arising out of the works and that “serious breaches” of the existing agreements on vibration and noise levels have occurred.
Hiscox has serious misgivings about the involvement of the corporation which it says “lacks the teeth” to act as an independent arbiter in the dispute, is an enthusiastic supporter of the Pinnacle development and has not been “even-handed” when dealing with Hiscox’s complaints.
In view of those criticisms, at the start of yesterday’s hearing, Pinnacle’s legal team asked that Stephen Blake, principal environmental health officer for the corporation, should be allowed to give evidence on the corporation’s statutory role and its involvement in the Pinnacle scheme so far.
In reply, Timothy Fancourt QC, for Hiscox, argued that it was too late to put forward further evidence and, in any event, the corporation’s evidence was irrelevant.
However, Pinnacle’s barrister claimed that should the evidence not be allowed, its client would be a “victim of procedural injustice” and it was “absolutely monstrous” that a judge should be asked to consider the powers of the City of
Allowing the evidence of the corporation to be heard, Judge Hodge said that it would be wrong to exclude the evidence because “the court should be astute to ensure that matters are disposed of on the fullest available evidence that can be put before the court without injustice to either party”.
The case continues.
Hiscox Syndicates and another v The Pinnacle Ltd and others Chancery Division (Judge
Timothy Fancourt QC (instructed by Allen & Overy) appeared for the claimant; Paul