Ealing (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Campaigners fighting to protect Ealing’s Victoria Hall return to court this week, as the long-running dispute over the building’s future reaches a crucial legal stage.
A court will hear an appeal filed by two locals on behalf of the Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) against the Charity Commission’s ruling permitting Ealing Council to sell the hall which it does not own as well as the remainder of the town hall property.
The Courts & Tribunals Service Cloud Video Platform will host the hearing.
Roger Green, chair of FoVH, said
“We believe we have a very strong case that could pave the way for the Victoria Hall to be returned to public use.”
He added:
“Ealing Council closed the Victoria Hall more than two years ago. The resulting dire shortage of community meeting space in the centre of Ealing was underlined just last week, ironically by one of the council’s own events.
It was obliged to refuse entry to people wanting to attend a workshop to develop a community-led Regeneration Charter because it didn’t have a large enough room.”
These kinds of meetings used to be held by the council in Victoria Hall, which could hold everyone.
FoVH is still requesting money to pay for its legal fees.
Soon after, and adjacent to Ealing Town Hall, the Victoria Hall was constructed. The Victoria Hall Trust was established in 1893 as a charity to maintain the hall for the benefit of the community and to use the earnings for charitable causes, thanks to donations from local residents.
The Victoria Hall, which occupies more than a fifth of the property, was included in the “opportunity” to renovate Ealing Town Hall that Ealing Council decided to promote in October 2014.
A development business that plans to convert the town hall and Victoria Hall into a hotel was given a 250-year lease by the council two years later.
However, the hall had been constructed and funded independently. The Victoria Hall Trust owned it, and it wasn’t for sale.
The council requested approval to change the regulations governing the trust from the Charity Commission, the government’s charity regulator, in May 2017 after this was brought to their attention.
Ten resident organizations founded the Friends of the Victoria Hall in 2019 in reaction to a following outcry.
What are the key legal grounds of the campaigners appeal?
The contenders argue that the hall was firstly erected and held in trust for public and community use. They contend that the council’s plan to vend and redevelop the hall for marketable purposes breaches the original charitable trust under which the hall was blessed to the community.
They claim that the proposed trade and partial obliteration undermine the hall’s intended use as a community venue, which is defended by the charity’s governing documents. The appeal challenges Council and Charity Commission opinions as procedurally illegal or fairly defective, professing failure to adequately consider community interests and the original terms of the trust.
The group emphasizes the hall’s part as a critical public asset serving vulnerable groups and hosting different community conditioning. Dealing it off for marketable use compromises public access and artistic value.
