Campaigners fail in bid to halt Harlesden redevelopment
Campaigners opposed to Brent Council’s plans to redevelop the site of a community centre in Harlesden, north London, lost their long-running challenge in the Court of Appeal today (18 January).The campaigners – the Stonebridge Community Trust – fear that redevelopment of the site, Bridge Park, will lead to a community centre being sold to make way for a leisure centre.
Brent Council says it owns the site and is entitled to develop it. The Trust says that the community centre site is owned by a charitable trust that the council helped set up, and can’t be sold off.
Bridge Park is an old London Transport bus depot that Brent bought in 1982 for £1.8 million using its own money plus almost £1m in government grants.
Campaigners opposed to Brent Council’s plans to redevelop the site of a community centre in Harlesden, north London, lost their long-running challenge in the Court of Appeal today (18 January).The campaigners – the Stonebridge Community Trust – fear that redevelopment of the site, Bridge Park, will lead to a community centre being sold to make way for a leisure centre.
Brent Council says it owns the site and is entitled to develop it. The Trust says that the community centre site is owned by a charitable trust that the council helped set up, and can’t be sold off.
Bridge Park is an old London Transport bus depot that Brent bought in 1982 for £1.8 million using its own money plus almost £1m in government grants.
At the same time, grassroots group the Harlesden People’s Community Council (HPCC) identified the site as a good place for a community centre managed by and for the local Black community. According to the ruling, it was a high-profile project established in the wake of the 1981 Brixton Riots, and received much political support.
HPCC invited Brent to take part in the project, which they did.
When Brent decided to redevelop the site, the HPCC took legal action to stop them.
The case has been hard-fought and complicated, mixing charity law with land law. In 2020 the council argued that HPCC didn’t have the standing to bring the case without the permission of the Attorney General. This led to the Attorney General taking a neutral stance in the matter.
When the case went to trial later that year, the judge ruled that Brent was the sole legal and beneficial owner of the land, and therefore entitled to develop or sell it.
Stonebridge and the HPCC challenged the decision at a hearing in the Court of Appeal in December, but in a ruling handed down today, the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court ruling and dismissed the appeal.
The Mayor & Burgesses of the London Borough of Brent v (1) Leonard Johnson (Claiming to Be a Trustee of ‘Harlesden Peoples Community Council’) (2) Stonebridge Community Trust (Hpcc) Limited (3) Her Majesty’s Attorney General
Court of Appeal (Lewison LJ, Arnold LJ, Snowden LJ), 18 January 2022
