The operators of an urban farm in Hounslow, west London, have lost a legal dispute with the council over a zoo that was never built. It’s a case that, according to the judge, is being funded by a property developer that wanted to use the site as an airport business park.
Hounslow Urban Farm has been in operation since 2012 when its owners, Tony and Alice Purdy, relocated from another site. Their company, The Tropical Zoo Ltd (TZL) was granted a 125-year lease and planning permission to build the farm on the green belt by Hounslow Council on the condition that they would also build a tropical zoo on the site within two years.
It is that agreement that was at the heart of the dispute that judge Mrs Justice Bacon ruled on today (24 May).
According to the ruling, while the Purdys were able to relocate their farm, they failed in all of their attempts to obtain third-party funding to build the zoo, projected to cost around £2.5m.
They remained in discussion with the council but in January 2021 the council served notice that the terms of the lease had been breached and that if TZL did not comply within “reasonable time” then the council would enter the premises and claim damages for breach of covenant.
This led to litigation which, according to the judge, was being driven by property development company Canmoor. According to the judgment, Canmoor paid TZL £1.5m for an option to buy the entirety of the shareholding in TZL.
“It is said that the option will be exercised if TZL is successful in this litigation,” the judge said in her ruling.
“Canmoor’s hope is that it will ultimately be able to exploit the lease in order to use most of the site for an industrial park serving Heathrow airport. In reality and substance, therefore, this is litigation between Canmoor and [Hounslow].
Canmoor was seeking relief from forfeiture of the lease, arguing that the council had technically waived its right by, among other things, accepting rent payments.
The case went to trial in April, and in today’s ruling the trial judge refused to grant the relief. She ruled that, according to the terms of the lease and under the circumstances that took place, the council had not waived its right.
She said that during the course of the trial, Canmoor’s lawyers had argued that if relief was granted, the judge should also rule that the obligation to build the zoo should be waived. However, that was dropped later in the trial, she said.
Canmoor’s lawyers also said, according to the judge, that failure to grant relief would lead to the urban farm closing.
“It is important to record that this is not [Hounslow’s] position,” she said.
“On the contrary, [Hounslow’s lawyer] emphasised in his closing submissions that [the borough] was and has always been a supporter of the urban farm, and had previously had a good relationship with the Purdys.
“While he could not, obviously, give any guarantees, he had specific instructions to say that [the borough] would actively want to reach a solution that allowed the continuation of the urban farm as part of its present site under any new lease arrangements.”
Tropical Zoo Ltd v Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Hounslow
[2024] EWHC 1240 (Ch)
Business and Property Courts (Mrs Justice Bacon) 24 May 2024
