Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
FIVE years on: Ally Pally saved!
ON TUESDAY night (6th November) the Alexandra Palace Trust Board formally approved the big bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in respect of most of the east side of Alexandra Palace.
If successful, this proposal would see the refurbishment of two historic spaces: the 1936 BBC television studio complex in the south east wing together with the huge Victorian Theatre with original stage equipment, in the north east wing.
The Save Ally Pally campaign group sincerely wishes this bid the best of luck.
What a change!
It is almost exactly five years since Save Ally Pally had to appeal to the High Court to ask for the Charity Commission's approval for a sale of the People's Palace to a developer (a former slum landlord, according to the Evening Standard) to be quashed. This would almost certainly have led to the destruction of the original BBC studios and probably the Victorian Theatre. Fortunately we were successful and 5 October 2007 marked the date of the turning of the tide in the fortunes of our Charity's main asset.
Now the scene is utterly transformed. The management who masterminded the sale attempt are long gone: the General Manager who supervised the sale plans retired in disgrace; a former Board Chairman was found to have brought the Council into disrepute and was suspended. Recently and finally, the former trust solicitor was let go after 22 years of expensive "advice" whose quality was, at best indifferent.
Where a developer saw only real estate, citizens saw history. For the south east wing – once earmarked by the property developer for "Offices" - the Mayor of London has endorsed the proposal for a UN World Heritage site in respect of the BBC TV studios - the world birthplace of television.
The appointment of Duncan Wilson as Chief Executive of the Palace and Park, having had (unlike all the his predecessors at AP) extensive experience of managing historic sites, including the Greenwich world heritage site, was a huge stride forward in AP fortunes.
Today, much of the hopes and ambitions of those crazed SAP loons - that historic Ally Pally could rise from the ashes of neglect and disrepair to once again become a top visitor attraction for London - are actually reflected in the bid that will be put together by a new and positive AP management team.
At a local public house last Sunday, SAP marked the fifth anniversary of the vital High Court ruling with a cake and celebration.
The HLF bid is not just a vindication of the efforts of the SAP group, but collectively its a victory for the Trust Beneficiaries of north London. It's also a victory for the public of London as a whole and indeed, nationally. In respect of BBC Studios A and B, it may yet transpire as a benefit for the citizens of the world.
SAP would encourage any members of the public who, like us, support the regeneration proposal and HLF bid, to write to Duncan Wilson, the Chief Executive of Alexandra Palace.
Save Ally Pally
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Middleton on
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Ditto well done. Are you still going as an organisation? I am often asked if there is a group which campaigns for the Palace (rather than the Park) and I thought that there wasn't any more. I know some people would be interested. Stephen Middleton (Friends of Alexandra Park)
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Stephen IMO the job of the campaign group is all but done. And so the recent celebration also marked a form of closure.
Several of us believe that the chronic governance problems are merely parked, not resolved, and as a result at some point in the future, they will manifest themselves again. The local council continues as sole Trustee, whereas our charitable trust has responsibility to the public of north London.
It is a decision for others, but the SaveAllyPally web site is likely to remain up. It remains a useful source of information about the history of the Peoples Palace - and the campaign to keep it from falling into the hands of a property developer.
There is probably a need for a Friends of Ally Pally group or similar, but that is yet to form.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Excellent, thanks for letting us know Clive. Do you have an idea when a decision on the bid will come through?
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Permalink Reply by Straw Cat on
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As co-writer of this statement, chair of the SAP steering group, and the bloke who actually brought the High Court action, it might be helpful to respond.
The sixth paragraph should read at the end:
"...Recently and finally, the former trust solicitor was let go after 22 years of expensive "advice" (or lack of it) whose quality was, at best, indifferent and at worst, disastrous."
The SAP was/is a very ad-hoc and loose grouping founded to help co-ordinate support for the court action. Because the action had to be mounted very quickly and was very expensive, it could not be brought in the name of any group - there was no time to found a formal fundraising organization - and so I had to risk my shirt, etc, personally on it. And, although my own legal fees were underwritten by some generous friends, the trust's then solicitor (unlike the charity commission) refused to agree a no-costs agreement; and so had I lost the action, I would have been bankrupted to pay for their own costs and consequential "losses".
Fortunately, in the event this backfired on him because of course, we won, and so the trust/council, having no costs agreement, had to pay half ours! This is why I say his advice to the board/council was often disastrous. But, as we have said, there is a completely new team in charge now.
SAP continued after the court case as a campaigning and information-providing body, in case the plans to flog off the Palace were resurrected. But as time went by, it became obvious that lessons had been learnt. The council was accepting that the Peoples' Palace actually should mean what it said - despite ideas like some idiot suggesting that a casino be put in it.
And after Duncan Wilson was appointed SAP began to hold its breath - could they really at last be starting to do the right thing?
As you can see, we think it looks like they are.
So Saving the Palace now involves actively supporting the trustees and management in their Heritage Lottery bid, which makes a nice change for us - and thankfully it looks like the litigious side of things can be finally stood down (except that if Firoka ever tried to sue the trust/council, we would be on the council's side). As for in what form SAP will continue, we will have to debate that amongst ourselves.
The HLF bid is a staged process. Stage 1 involves a bid being made by the end of this month, with a decision by the HLF to support it in principle and invite further work, being made by April. Then further work on Stage 2 would be done - and the whole process, if successful, would mean a start would be made on site at the bginning of 2015. Details can be found on the Council's website, meetings section, Alexandra Palace Board, 6th November 2012, under the reports pack to the board, item 9.
Jacob(Jacob O'Callaghan, SAP)
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