Following a Victoria Hall Committee meeting on 21 November 2023, Ealing Liberal Democrats have challenged Labour-run Ealing Council by saying the council is delaying implementing changes so a new lease can be agreed.
Lib Dems have said they believe the council is delaying matters on the grounds that if they cancel a deal to renovate the Town Hall they will need to pay developer Mastcraft £420,000.
Victoria Hall supporters have been challenging Ealing Council over its plans to redevelop the Town Hall and the costs that have been running to date.
The much delayed plans by Ealing Council to sell off Ealing Town Hall to Mastcraft, a private company and turn it into a hotel has cost nearly £3m so far.
In May 2023 and in a response from the council to Ealing Lib Dems, it was revealed that the breakdown of the £2,923,264 has been spent as:
- Victoria Hall Trust £110,152 (proportion of tribunal costs to be borne by the Victoria Hall Trust is still to be confirmed)
- Legal costs £227,157
- PMO £398,759
- Relocation of services £1,929,695
- Property Advisors £177,109
- Other costs £80,392
Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of Ealing Lib Dems said “Liberal Democrats believe that these issues have been dragging on for over five years. The Court of Appeal has also asked Labour-run Ealing Council to reverse the current party–political Councillor majority to a more independent community focussed majority by increasing independent members from three to five and reducing the councillors from four to three.”
In September 2023, following Tribunal findings over Victoria Hall, an Ealing Council spokesperson said: “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.”
