Man fighting Ealing Town Hall plans gets court hearing

A west London resident has described his "relief" at securing a High Court hearing, six years after starting a campaign to stop the redevelopment of Ealing Town Hall.

Will French is objecting to the plans on the grounds that part of the town hall is owned by the people of Ealing.

The redevelopment would turn it into a boutique hotel.

Ealing Council said the redevelopment would "secure the town hall for future generations".

The issue will be heard in court in February, having already been postponed twice.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service says Mr French and other campaigners cannot afford lawyers, so will be arguing the case themselves, which Mr French has likened to "revising for an exam".

Despite this, Friends of Victoria Hall, a campaign group, has raised about £80,000 over several years for Mr French and another resident, Tony Miller, to receive legal advice.

Their objections to the redevelopment plan centre on a part of the town hall called Victoria Hall, which makes up about a fifth of the building.

It was built by public subscription in 1893 and campaigners say it is owned by the people of Ealing.

Mr French says he is "fed up" with the "very long and drawn-out process", but that it will be a "huge relief" to have the case heard at court.

An Ealing Council spokesperson said the regeneration proposals followed "a long public consultation process" and the developer was selected by a process, "that had at its heart a brief that sought to secure the town hall for future generations". The council will also retain the freehold of the town hall.

The spokesperson added "several proposals" had been put forward by local residents' groups but "none were found to be viable propositions" that would secure the building's long-term future.

Mr French says the town hall has been "well used over the years by different groups", such as debates and exhibitions, adding: "When people have wanted to come together to celebrate their cultures they come to Victoria Hall and I do worry that is going to be lost.

"It's been an awful lot of work here. There are thousands of pages of documentation," he said, adding he was hoping to "move on" once the case had been heard.

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