Further Delays For Ealing Town Hall Sale

Charity Commission say they need to ensure legal tests are met

The Charity Commission is continuing to investigate the legalities of the ‘sale’ of Ealing Town Hall. They now say they are looking at whether the legal tests which need to be met before the trustees can carry out the council’s wishes have been met.

Currently, Trustees own part of the listed building, namely Victoria Hall which was built next to the Town Hall over 100 years ago with money donated by the public. The Council has managed it for many years, and now want to include it in a grant of a lease of the whole site to hotel developer Mastcraft and is seeking to change the terms of the trust.

Councillors at the planning committee voted by 9 votes to 3 to allow Mastcraft to use the western and central part of the Grade II listed building for a 120-room hotel with a health club and a cocktail bar. The eastern part would be retained for civic use.

However, Cllr Jon Ball, who was one of the three who opposed the application, has also voted against accounts put to the Trustees saying they do not give a true statement of the financial position. He says the Council has not given the Trustees sufficient data about the plans to dispose of Trust property. He also claims the council has been giving itself beneficial rates when using Trust space.

The Charity Commission is investigating the complaint and say they need to be satisfied that the legal tests for changing the document known as a ‘scheme’ are met. In order to protect charity assets, the Charities Act requires trustees to apply to the Commission to make a scheme in order to carry out particular actions.

A spokesperson said, “We are continuing to consider information provided by Ealing Council as trustee of Victoria Hall Charity to determine whether they can legally act on the proposals based on rules set out in the Charities Act.”

3 June 2019