Council Has 'No Plans To Sell Off Hanwell Community Centre'

Leader wants agreement over how centre should be run

Ealing Council is seeking to reasure local residents in Hanwell that their community centre will not be sold off for housing.

The historic centre in Westcott Crescent was built in 1856 and has deteriorated drastically. Renovation works were started in 2008 but were put on hold and negotiations over the lease have stalled.

Over 1,000 concerned locals have signed a petition in a bid to safeguard the site which is run by a charity for the benefit of the community. It was presented at the full Council meeting last night (Tuesday 14th December).

In response Council Leader Julian Bell has issued a statement:

“We want to provide a thriving community centre and have already invested more than £3.5million to improve the building.

“However we are becoming increasingly frustrated that we have been unable to reach an agreement with Hanwell Community Centre Limited about how the centre should be run.

''This has resulted in some misinformation and I would like to reassure residents that the council has no plans to sell-off the site for housing.

“We are very keen to agree a new lease and management arrangements and will continue to try to negotiate with the board.

“It would be irresponsible for us to continue to pump huge amounts of money into the centre without having a proper say in its management. We are also not prepared to lease the building to the association at a massively subsidised rate, while they take all income from room
bookings, under use the centre and don’t contribute to maintenance costs.

“We hope Hanwell Community Centre Limited will return to the table so we can work out this issue.”

15 December 2010