Labour Pressed on Victoria Hall and Perceval House
Opposition raises issues at full meeting of Ealing Council
Liberal Democrat councillor Jon Ball speaks at the council meeting
Both opposition parties raised the issue of developments which the council is involved in during a meeting of Ealing Council this Tuesday (1 November).
The Conservatives put forward a motion which invited the Labour leadership to describe the progress it has made on the redevelopment of the Perceval House site, the conversion of the Town Hall into a hotel, a replacement for Gurnell Leisure Centre and falling recycling rates across the Borough.
In the resulting debate Liberal Democrat Ealing Common Councillor Jon Ball accused the council of wasting time and money fighting residents about the passing on of Victoria Hall to the hotel company. He said that the fabric of the Town Hall is allowed to crumble further, reducing much-needed revenue from weddings and community events.
Afterwards he added, "Liberal Democrats say that the problem with that is that the Victoria Hall is not the Council’s to dispose of. Labour is currently wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of Ealing Council taxpayers’ money to fight local residents in court over this issue. And when the administration loses – as seems increasingly inevitable.”
Cllr Deirdre Costigan did speak in response to the motion but only addressed the issue of recycling.
Cllr Julian Gallant, the leader of the Conservative Group on the opposition said, “Labour councillors chose not to answer on these important local issues, instead using the opportunity to criticise the Conservative government.
“Only Cllr Deirdre Costigan answered directly but wanted to be thanked for recycling rates which had fallen continuously from 2017-2021.
“Labour's own motion made little mention of Ealing, focussing instead on bizarre demands for a general election which lies outside the jurisdiction of the council and which may not be called before late 2024 or even 2025.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
November 3, 2022