An 89-year-old grandmother in St John’s Wood says she is “really upset” after Westminster City Council removed a bench from the small street garden she created outside her home more than 25 years ago.
Katharine Hoskyns, a retired teacher who has lived in Hamilton Gardens since the 1960s, said she discovered the bench had gone when she woke up on Sunday, October 25. The bench had stood among plant pots outside her home near Abbey Road, where she says she has spent years tending tomatoes, geraniums and herbs.
The removal follows a dispute between Hoskyns and the council over complaints linked to the site. Westminster City Council says the bench had attracted anti-social behaviour at night, including drug use, and that it had received repeated complaints from residents over many years.
Long-running dispute over bench and plants
According to the account given, the council sent Hoskyns a notice in July asking her to remove the bench and plants after what it described as a series of complaints from residents. The authority said at the time it was reluctantly starting a formal process, while hoping the matter could still be resolved amicably.
Hoskyns says she tried to keep the garden in place and launched a petition to support it. She says more than 60 local people signed in favour of preserving the space, which she describes as something neighbours also help to look after.
She said: “I wanted to keep the bench because it is what makes it nice. We are going to try and contest it. We are going to try and fight this.”
The small garden is in Hamilton Gardens, a cul-de-sac in St John’s Wood. Hoskyns says she gradually built it up over the years with plant pots outside her home, and that it became a sociable spot where people would stop to talk.
The original letter from the council said it had received complaints from members of the local community. It also said the garden could create problems, including a risk of injury if pots were knocked over, and that the bench had not been verified as structurally safe.
Hoskyns disputes the scale of the opposition. She says only one neighbour objects and rejects the claim that the bench caused anti-social behaviour. She also says the setup did not block access and that there was enough room for a wheelchair to pass.
Council says it had to act
Hoskyns says that after she responded with help from her family, the council initially indicated she could keep the plants if the bench was removed. She then says that position changed again, with the authority later telling her she would also need to gradually reduce the number of plants.
She had arranged a meeting with the council in November and says she hoped a compromise could be reached then. But before that meeting could happen, the bench was removed while she was inside during the rainy weekend.
Westminster City Council says it acted after efforts to settle the matter failed. A spokesperson said: “This bench has attracted antisocial behaviour at night, including drug use, and the council has received repeated complaints from residents and has evidence of the problems over many years.”
The spokesperson added that the council had tried to find an amicable solution, including offering to move the bench, but said no agreement could be reached. The authority says it has a responsibility to listen to residents and take appropriate action.
The council has offered to return the bench to Hoskyns’ back garden. She says that is not practical because she does not have space for it there, and says she paid for the bench herself and wants it returned to the street.
Hoskyns is now working with her family on what to do next. She has also suggested that if the bench cannot return, another form of seating might be considered instead.
What happens next
For now, the disagreement appears unresolved. Hoskyns says the bench was an important part of the garden and of daily life on the street, while the council maintains it had to respond to complaints and concerns about behaviour and safety.
The case centres on a very local question in St John’s Wood: whether a long-established street garden seen by one resident as a community asset can remain in its current form when the council says it has evidence of ongoing problems.
Any next step is likely to depend on further discussions between Hoskyns, her family and Westminster City Council. At this stage, the bench has been removed, the plants remain part of the dispute, and both sides are standing by their position.
- Location: Hamilton Gardens, St John’s Wood, near Abbey Road
- Council involved: Westminster City Council
- Issue: Removal of bench from street garden after complaints and anti-social behaviour concerns
- Next step: Hoskyns says she is considering how to contest the decision with her family
