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The barrister, his local cafe and a legal stink over its right to cook
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor13.06.08
An independent café has lost a seven-year legal struggle to stay in business - triggered after a neighbour complained about the smell of its award-winning vegetarian food.
The Royal Teas café, in the Greenwich conservation area, fought a "David and Goliath" battle against council officials after being told it would no longer be allowed to serve cooked food.
With the help of loyal customer Paul Marshall, a barrister, it took its case to the highest court in the land.
Peter Stanway, a planning consultant, also offered his services free. A further 300 customers have written to the council and 1,000 have signed a petition backing the café.
The original complaint is believed to have come from one resident and is related to cooking smells emanating from the 1840 listed building from where the business has operated for 19 years.
Ray Voce, chef and partner in the business, claims typical odours from the café would be no more offensive than cooking aubergine. "We are not talking chips and curry," he said. But the vegetarian coffee shop was defeated in the Appeal Court this week.
It now faces having to abandon its hot-food menu - featuring items such as lemongrass and coconut broth - and could be forced out of business.
Mr Voce said: "There's no justice in this world. All I can say to customers now is, 'What do you want in your sandwich? None of the people who make the decisions have been anywhere near the café. They talk about it as if it was a huge, stinking, horrible place, but it's actually the loveliest place around."
He said it was not clear from the ruling whether he would even be able to serve toast, or a house speciality - beans covered in cheese with Marmite soldiers.
The original complaint against the café led to Greenwich council ruling that Royal Teas no longer complied with its planning permission as a café/tea room, which banned "cook-ing at any time" and needed to fit an extraction system. An inspector decided that allowing cooking at the Royal Teas was unacceptable - in acoustic, visual and odour terms - and would "detract from the living conditions" of nearby residents within a conservation area.
An extraction system was installed but the council ruled at a hearing that it was inadequate.
Mr Voce and his business partner Ondine Francis took their case to the High Court and then the Appeal Court. But Lord Justice Pill, sitting with Lord Justice Keene and Lord Justice Toulson, ruled the council's stance had been fair.
Mr Voce and Ms Francis now face a legal bill of £13,000, including £5,500 for Greenwich's legal costs.
No one at the council was available for comment.
Royal Teas was named the best place in London for a budget afternoon tea in a recent survey, and one of the best 50 places in Britain to have breakfast.
Reader views (12)
Isn't it amazing the extent to which people will go to justify breaking the law. A bit like footballers who whine unmercifully when they are caught out on a foul. The Planning Permission said No Cooking. The restaurant should abide by the permission in place before it opened or push off somewhere else.
- Derek Robinson, York, UK
What about the pub that is peeping into shot on the right hand side? Do they not serve food either, or does the smell of loads of smokers standing outside with their drinks at all hours smell better than cooking? As Howard said, be careful what you decry, you don't know what will end up in it's place!
- Maddie, Portsmouth, UK
Having lived with a vegetarian I can tell you some of the things she used to cook stunk to high heaven but to close it is wrong. Just somebody with nothing better to do than cause trouble. Isn't it against their human rights to stop them eating what they want???
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Samui Thailand
The complainant deserves an uncooked five finger sandwich on the nose that may cure the over-sensitive olfactory nerve.
Makes you wonder about the sanity of people who buy houses next to businesses, on busy transport roads or airports and then complain about smell and noise...
- Ian Heritage, Melbourne, Australia
Another traditional tea room like those from Victorian times that must now become a Starbucks replica! So much for English heritage.
- Lara Francis, London
No doubt McDonald's will buy the property and be allowed to serve 24 hours a day.
Complainers be careful what you decry.
- Howard, Potters Bar
If it was a curry house stinking up the block, you can guarantee that they wouldn't have dreamed have closing it up, so as not to ' offend ' anyone !
- Bob,, London, England
What madness is this? Any amount of cooking odours waft over everywhere in urban centres from pubs, restaurants and cafes. Any extraction system ends somewhere! Why live somewhere where such cooking odours are?
- June, London , UK
This is rather ridiculous and another case of someone moving to an area and THEN complaining I guess! There are 3 pubs on Royal Hill and 3 cafes - are they all going to be stopped from serving food? Royal Teas has been there for years and is GREAT - if they dont like it maybe they should move!!!!
- I heart cupcakes, London
Surely with enough publicity this ridiculous decision can be overturned?
- Tracey, London
A cafe that is no longer allowed to cook.
Following on from the butcher in Barking driven out of business becasue he was forbidden to make a sound as he chopped up the meat.
If this was some surreal satire on a fantasy regime you would say it was far fetched.
- ew, uk
Looking at the photo it appears that there's a pub two doors away, I would have thought the outdoor smoking, noise pollution and sporadic fighting would have been a lot bigger public nuisance than the smell of quiche, but then I'm not a pedantic working for a local authority.
- Uncivil Servants, London
