Hampstead ladies’ pond policy challenged in High Court

The campaign group Sex Matters has asked the High Court to rule that the City of London Corporation’s policy of admitting trans women to the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath is unlawful.

The judicial review began before Mr Justice Linden on Tuesday 3 November and was expected to finish on Wednesday. The judge will give his decision in writing at a later date, The Telegraph reported.

The corporation, which runs the heath, has allowed people to use the ladies’ and men’s ponds according to their gender identity since 2017. It is the first court test of the policy since the Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that “sex” in the Equality Act means biological sex.

The arguments

Tom Cross KC, for Sex Matters, told the court the ponds were “indirectly discriminating against women” because women cannot tell whether a male user “genuinely has a trans identity or just prefers to use the facilities of the opposite sex”. He said the case was not that most trans women posed a threat, but about women’s privacy, dignity and sense of safety. He also said the Equality and Human Rights Commission had “repeatedly advised” that the policy was unlawful.

Daniel Stilitz KC, for the corporation, said a sex-based policy “would have deprived the ponds of their unique character” and would probably have led to discrimination claims by trans users. The corporation says there have been no substantiated incidents involving a trans person since 2017, and that it has spent more than £1.08 million improving private facilities at the ladies’ pond.

It also argues that the claim was brought too late, belongs in the county court, and that Sex Matters does not have standing to bring it.

Sex Matters has published its skeleton argument for the case.