Ryan Tang, working with the Legal Services team at Ealing Council, successfully defended the London Borough of Ealing, acting as a trustee, in an appeal brought by two local residents against the Charity Commission’s cy-pres scheme authorising the redevelopment of Ealing Victoria Hall. This Appeal was the latest legal challenge brought against the proposed redevelopment. In an earlier Appeal heard in 2023, the First-Tier Tribunal held that a cy-pres occasion had arisen, but found that the terms of the Commission’s original cy-pres scheme failed to contain adequate safeguards, and ordered the Commission to make a new scheme.

The Appellants appealed against the revised scheme on the grounds that its terms were insufficiently precise, and that the governance arrangements proposed by the Council were inadequate. The appeal was dismissed by the Tribunal in full. This permits the long-delayed redevelopment of the Ealing Town Hall complex to finally proceed, safeguarding this historical Grade II listed building for future generations whilst delivering significant economic benefits for the Borough.

For more information, view the case note here