Further regular updates will appear on our main page as things happen!
The mastcraft exhibition has opened and SEC are now posting a copy of the letter from Bates Wells Braithwaite solicitors to the charity commission in relation to proposals made by Ealing Council as Trustee of The Victoria Hall Trust to vary the charitable objects and dispose of charitable proerty (The VIctoria Hall and related charity property by way of a long lease.
You can read the full text of their letter HERE
The local group GetwestLondon has also just produced an up-to-date item on the campaign to stop parts of The Town Hall becoming a "Boutique Hotel" which can be seen HERE
The consultation was open for just three days and
you can see a copy of their invitation HERE
4th April 2018 Update on Victoria Hall from Ealing Voice. To no great surprise, the Council's 15th March General Purposes Committee dismissed every one of 277 objections to its plans to dispose of the Victoria Hall which it doesn’t own and is ploughing ahead with its plan to hand over the hall for the next 250 years to hotel developer Mastcraft.The next step for the Council is to secure the consent of the Charity Commission for the sale, and this won't be so easy.
As the trustee, the Council must be fully accountable for its actions, be open and transparent in its dealings and keep the interests of the charity completely independent from those of the Council. It will be up to the Charity Commission to decide whether this has been the case with the Victoria Hall but all the evidence points against it. For more information see the Ealing Voice Victoria Hall Update. HERE
20th February 2018 SEC circulated a note to our supporters with a link to a note from Ealing Voice which gave yet more about this second consultation and, very importantly, had a lot about the trust that manages the Town Hall and advice from The Charity Commission and Local Government Association as to how the Council should perhaps attempt to dispose of the trust.
Also CEPAC - The Campaign for an Ealing Performance & Arts Centre, a group supported by SEC, circulated their reasons to object to the Council's latest proposals.
2nd February 2018 Ealing Council posted another consultation - which closed on 2nd March - which contained a lot more information on why they wish to grant the 240 year lease to Mastcraft Ltd to become a hotel but with limited use by the community for some days a year. You can see the full consultation details HERE
1st February 2018 More information HERE on the Ealing Today website, including comments from Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council
31st January 2018 we have now received a new press release from Ealing Council.
This tells us that extra time to be spent finalising plans for the multi-million pound redevelopment of Ealing Town Hall means that the Grade II listed venue will stay open to the public until 30 October and that timescales for redeveloping Perceval House site have also changed.
You can read the full press release HERE
30th January 2018 we knew that the consultation on the Victoria Hall proposals had already been extended to 9th February and Ealing Voice has now posted a very full account of the latest situation - including more questions over the trust and information on the Town Hall finances - on their web page at http://www.ealingvoice.com/?p=160
13th January 2018 Consultation time extended on plans to give away the Victoria Hall
Ealing Council, as trustee of
the Victoria Hall Ealing, have applied to the Charity Commission for a
Scheme to be made under section 62 of the Charities Act 2011 in order
to change the purposes of the Victoria Hall Ealing.
As part of the process of making the Scheme, the Charity Commission requires the Trustee to consult on the proposed new charitable purposes. The council has now agreed that since essential information was not in the Public Domain, the closing date for the consultation has now been amended to close on Friday 9th February 2018 and full details of how you can respond can be found on the councils web site HERE
Additionally a petition against the deal which secured over 1700 signatures is available HERE
SEC supporter Ealing Voice is contesting the Council’s proposed changes. Ealing Voice say that the Halls are worth some millions of pounds and take in several hundred thousand pounds a year in letting fees. This should be enough for them to pay their way and continue to be used by Ealing’s growing population.
Ealing Voice argues that public assets – especially those paid for by public donations – should not be handed over to external developers as the Council wants to do. Ealing Voice is now calling on the Ealing public to support it by adding their objections.
You can see the full Ealing Voice documents on their web site at www.ealingvoice.comThis also includes details of how you can make your representations direct to Ealing Council in writing as above or by e-mail to David Moore at MooreD@Ealing.gov.uk.
A copy of the Ealing Voice response to The Charity Commission, Ealing Voice response to Ealing Council and also a very interesting copy of the original Declaration of Trust from 1893 can be found HERE
Save Ealing's Centre response can be seen HERE
Exposure box (your local Ealing Channel) has an interview with Will French (Chair of SEC) about the history of the Town Hall
and this sell-off proposal on their site
This information throws the whole scheme into yet more confusion and will require carefull watching by interested parties such as SEC and Ealing Voice to name but a few. We will update this site as more becomes clear.