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 a response from the Labour-run council to its official opposition, Ealing Liberal Democrats, it has been 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
According to the LibDems, there it also additional income being lost as the Town Hall is not being rented out or used as much as it previously was by others for weddings as well as by community groups. They said: “It is estimated that there is a further £250,000 per annum income forgone for each year that passes.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Ball, opposition spokesperson on planning and housing said: “The Labour administration has wasted £3m of council tax money on a white elephant hotel scheme for the old town hall. Surely it is time to review the approach and look anew at what can be done.”
Councillor Ball added: “The longer this drags on the more the costs will spiral out of control. It shows Labour’s maladministration and their inability to steer and govern the council tax payers assets. This comes at a critical time when a draft Local Plan is being developed which outlines a development framework for the next 15 years and looks across all of the borough’s land and building assets.”
Ealing Liberal Democrats also said in a statement: “This spend is shocking as the deal with Mastcraft is for £2.5m for a 250 year lease. If the deal falls through the council is subject to an additional payment of £350,000 on top of the £3m spent to date as well as the loss of income from the renting out of space to community groups.”
EALING.NEWS spoke to Ealing Council who provided a breakdown of the current costs totalling nearly £3m and in a statement said: “No payments have been made to Mastcraft. It should be noted that service relocation costs (including, for example, the relocation of the CCTV control room) have benefitted and will continue to benefit the council regardless of the outcome of the Tribunal.”
