Brian
Deer: the
Westway scandal
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| This 2001
Sunday Times
investigation by Brian
Deer
into the Westway
Development Trust -
an obscure London
property developer -
showed what you can get
away with in the UK,
given the benefits of
charity status |
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| Notting
Hell: Although
backed by the Prince of Wales,
headed by a judge and
feted by voluntary organisations,
in the poor west London community around
Ladbroke Grove, where it had acquired 23
acres of free land, the Westway
Development Trust was notorious.
Brian Deer exposed how for years it
had distorted the
meaning of charity. The Sunday Times
Magazine June 17 2001 |
| "Yes -
local charities":
Despite helping to establish a national development
trusts association, claiming
economic regeneration as its charitable
purpose, the Westway Development Trust
went to unusually suspicious lengths to
prevent the local authority from
collecting taxes for services to a
wholly-for-profit local nightclub
for which it was the landlord. The
document at this link was written by
Brian Deer to guide newspaper
lawyers through this mysterious
scam on the community [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] |
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Held
in trust:
Scene under the Westway
road at London's Ladbroke
Grove, where the trust
has owned 23 acres of
land since the 1970s
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The names
change: But do
the games stay the same? Although headed
for nearly nine years by Old Bailey judge
Gerald Gordon, the Westway
Development Trust had established a
number of surprising commercial
arrangements. The document at this link
concerns the colourful business
partner with whom the trust had
for more than 20 years operated a street
market, adjacent to the famous
Portobello Road - collecting huge sums
from stallholders in poorly-accounted cash
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
| Although
set up to help the community, the trust
became endlessly embroiled in conflicts
and scandals |
Taken at
face value:
Following the Notting Hell story's
publication, an emergency full meeting of
the Royal Borough of Kensington &
Chelsea council was called, at which the Conservative
Party blocked demands from the
Labour opposition to refer the trust to
the Charity Commission. The district
auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers,
however, was instructed to report on the
council's dealings with the Westway
Development Trust and, though not
empowered to investigate
the trust, yielded a damning picture [1] [2] [3]
The iron
fist of benevolence:
Despite its status as a registered
charity, critics of the Westway
Development Trust were often
subjected to barrages of complaints,
threats and even lawsuits.
This working document by Brian Deer
summarises the trust's perverse libel
pursuit of a local bicycle repair man,
Lyn Hardy-Smith, damaging the hapless
defendant's health, squandering an
estimated £100,000 in legal costs and terrorising
others who might think of complaining
about the trust's extraordinary conduct |
The land
grab: In the
early 1970s, the Westway Development
Trust sprang from protests against a
disruptive motorway construction
(right) and calls to help the
socially-deprived community. But the
trust's board was packed with Chelsea
Conservatives, and it changed course to
found a leisure empire.
This memo [1] [2] shows how the
land was secured - with help from His
Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales
Gone but
not defeated: Living
on a council estate right beside the
Westway flyover, local tenants' leader Kathleen
Kelly was one of the most
outraged and active opponents of the
trust's destructive antics, spearheading
countless actions to defend the
community. Sadly, she died
before the Notting Hell story was
published, but battled on posthumously in
the Kensington &
Chelsea News |
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On your
honour: As the
founding aims were junked for upscale
leisure - including a nightclub, fitness
club and cocktail bar (built
with public money earmarked for a job
centre) - a raft of contracts
was negotiated by an inner circle at the
trust, including Gerald Gordon. But what
a judge was doing involved in such
matters, let alone presiding over such
controversies, hasn't been explained.
Here is the judges' code of
conduct
No story
here: As the
investigation went ahead, dozens of
letters of complaint about Brian Deer
were received by The Sunday Times from
the trust or its lawyers, including the
three examples filed at this link, from
Roger Matland, Gerald Gordon and Martin
Owen. They denied any
misconduct at the trust, and argued that
actions were in the best interests of the
registered charity |
Image
problem:
Photographs of Westway land - some of
which has gone undeveloped for 30
years - tell a tale of waste
that has left many asking why it wasn't
just sold to the highest bidder
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Called to
account:
Year-on-year figures for losses on the
Westway Development Trust's Portobello
Green Fitness Club suggest amazing
increases in efficiency after
this investigation
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Contact
Brian at this link:
Years have passed since this
investigation of the Westway
Development Trust, much change
has taken place, and many of the people
have moved on. If you wish to contact Brian
Deer, about this or anything,
please use this link
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Judge
Gerald Gordon: bullied
decorator
"After a painter who
decorated the charity's
offices in 1999
complained to Gordon that
it appeared to be
attempting to avoid
proper payment for the
work that it had ordered
from him, the judge
responded: 'Allegations
of dishonesty if untrue
are libellous and if made
in relation to a person's
employment are actionable
without proof of damage.'
The painter caved in to a
'consent order',
abandoning his claim for
£1,000 at Lambeth County
Court, with an unusual
clause demanded by the
trust: 'That neither
party shall discuss the
matter with third
parties.'"
Brian Deer:
Notting Hell
From
Gerald Gordon, chair:
"I have now had
an opportunity
(conspicuously absent
before and during your
interrogation) to
consider your allegations
that the Trust made
unjust and dishonest
claims for rate and Music
and Dancing License
rebates and that I, as
Chair, should have
stopped it. I now have
the following
observations:-
"1. Having
looked at at least some
of the files, the picture
about the amount of
information that the
Council had about
Subterania is far from
the simple one you were
seeking to suggest from
documents that you had.
"2. The question
of whether the Council
was misled and whether or
not rebates were
allowable are, in the
first instance, matters
for the Council. I have
therefore written to the
Leader of the Council
informing him of your
allegations and inviting
him to initiate an
investigation with which
the Trust will co-operate
fully.
"3. I do not
accept you assertions
that as Chair, I have to
scrutinise everything
that staff do personally:
I am one Trustee among a
number. Further, there is
power in the Trust's
constitution for the
Trustees to delegate to
sub-committees and there
is a general power for
Trustees to delegate
tasks to staff (see for
example Charity
Commission News Issue 5 -
Autumn 96). Of course,
the Trustees must involve
themselves in the work of
the Trust and we do. That
is why we meet regularly
to carry out our duties
as Trustees. Nevertheless
in view of your
assertions the Trustees
will be seeking a meeting
with the Charity
Commission."
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