Campaigners Celebrate Victoria Hall Court Ruling
Tribunal decides Charity Commission wrong to support council's plan
Campaigners outside Victoria Hall. Picture: Roger Green
September 27, 2023
Campaigners against Ealing Council’s plan to sell off Victoria Hall as part of its agreement with a developer are celebrating a court ruling.
A three-day Charity Tribunal hearing had been held from 20-22 February to determine whether the Charity Commission’s support for the council’s plan was justifiable. In a 12-page judgment finally published this Thursday (21 September), the Tribunal ruled that it was not satisfied that the proposed rule changes adequately protected the interests of the Charity and gave the Commission and Ealing Council six months to draw up a new scheme in consultation with the two appellants.
The legal judgement specified that a “Community Use Protocol” needed to be agreed with Ealing Performance & Arts Centre, Ealing Voice and the Friends of Victoria Hall, as the original purposes of the Trust could not be carried out under the current the spirit of the original gift. It was also stipulated that any transaction costs should be undertaken by the council and not transferred to the community or the charity.
The historic hall, which is a popular local venue for concerts, belongs to a charity which is controlled by the council.
Two Ealing residents on behalf of the Friends of Victoria Hall (FoVH) had challenged the Commission over the new rules it had agreed to for the 1893 Victoria Hall Trust that would allow the council to dispose of the property.
Victoria Hall was paid for by public subscription and opened for recreational use in 1888 before being transferred to a charitable trust which was meant to run it for the benefit of the local community. In July 2016 Ealing Council entered into an agreement with the developer Mastcraft to sell off the Town Hall on a 250-year lease to turn it into a luxury hotel. This deal included Victoria Hall which is adjacent to the Town Hall. In March 2021, the Charity Commission agreed to let Ealing Council take over the property of the Trust so that it could be included in the Town Hall sale and the following month the FoVH members launched their legal challenge.
Will French, one of the appellants, said, “The Tribunal has correctly concluded that the Scheme would be a very poor outcome for the beneficiaries of the Trust, the Ealing public.”
The other appellant, Tony Miller added, “I am delighted that we’ve been proved right about this completely unsatisfactory plan for the Victoria Hall. I look forward to working with the Commission and with Ealing Council to come up with a much better outcome for the people of Ealing.”
The member organisations of the Friends of the Victoria Hall are: Central Ealing Neighbourhood Forum, Campaign for an Ealing Performance & Arts Centre, Central Ealing Residents’ Association, Ealing Art Group, Ealing Arts & Leisure, Ealing Civic Society, Save Ealing’s Centre, Gordon Road and Surrounding Streets Residents’ Association, Residents’ Association of Madeley and Westbury Roads, Warwick Road Residents Association and West Ealing Neighbours.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Ball, Opposition Spokesperson on Planning and Housing said, “The Liberal Democrat opposition party in Ealing congratulate Tony and Will on saving the Victoria Hall for community use. We call on Ealing Council to negotiate with them in good faith. The Mastcraft scheme is dead as we have said before and we are calling on the Council to restore the building as an arts centre plus reinstated civic use. The success of the cinema in the former Acton Library is an example of saving a community asset which we must always look to do when Labour-run Ealing Council seem hell-bent on selling off our community assets.”
Ealing Council issued a statement which said, “We are pleased that the Tribunal has accepted the principle of renovating Ealing Town Hall in partnership with a developer to secure its future.
“Ealing Town Hall is over 100 years old and is incredibly expensive to maintain. While we have preserved the building for the people of Ealing as best as we can, it is no longer safe, fit for purpose, or useable by all.
“Having only just received the Tribunal’s findings we are now looking at these in more detail to consider our next steps.
“We acknowledge that we need to do more work to ensure that the Victoria Hall and other public rooms within the Town Hall remain accessible and affordable to the people of Ealing. We will continue to work with the Victoria Hall Trust, the Charity Commission, the Tribunal and others to make this a reality.
“Our priority at all times has been and will remain to preserve the historic, cultural, public and civic uses of this much-loved building, and to secure its future for the century to come.”
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