THE NORTH KENSINGTON AMENITY TRUST [NOW WESTWAY DEVELOPMENT TRUST] AND THE WESTWAY MARKET This document was written by Brian Deer. It should be read in conjunction with his investigation in The Sunday Times Magazine of 17th June 2001 and two reports similar in format to this document supplied to the Charity Commission for England and Wales at the time of publication: (a) A report on the trust and the Subterania night-club. Evidence attached to that report, xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx, are indexed with the prefix [S]. (b) A report on the trust and Mr Lyn Hardy-Smith. Evidence attached to that, which concerns an unwarranted libel prosecution, are indexed with the prefix [L]. The fog begins to lift when all of this material is interrelated. xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx (A) THE MARKET AREA Almost since its inception, the North Kensington Amenity Trust [since renamed Westway Development Trust] has licensed a market operation on its land. Currently, this market extends along Thorpe Close London W10 5XL, as well as a fixed-structure canopied area (described as a "tent") and an area of Acklam Road. This location is immediately outside the trust's offices, literally obstructing easy access. When in operation, it can be surveyed from the director's first floor office desk. Staff and trustees coming and going must pass directly through it. Unlike with, say, the night-club, nobody could be in any doubt about the location, nature and scale of this operation. The market is currently licensed to operate on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, as explained in a 2001 tender document [M1] and has relied for its success on its proximity to the vastly bigger Portobello Road market which is operated by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. From Ladbroke Grove underground station, many visitors to Portobello Road pass through Thorpe Close. A survey, carried out by another market operator counted the number of stalls on a Saturday at 290. Each trader is understood to pay £35 per day to the licensee - enterprises operated by xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx, Maurice Samuel Nixon (dob 10/02/55) and other individuals operating loosely around the enterprises trading as "Countrywide Markets". It is understood that Mr Nixon has operated the market for about 20 years. Based on a crude calculation for the Saturday market - and taking account of lesser trading activity on other days - the other market operator assessed the gross take in rent by Mr Nixon from stall holders as follows: 290 x £35 = £10,150 per Saturday x 50 weeks = £507,500 per annum plus Friday and Sunday trading estimated gross per annum = £700,000 This money is received as cash, collected individually from stall holders on site by Mr Nixon's associates. Until 1994 accounts of the North Kensington Amenity Trust included itemised details of "income from properties". See, for instance page 5 of [S7] in the Subterania evidence. No information, however, is included in this report, or any other that Brian Deer has found, concerning the income to the charity for the market operation. In more recent accounts, the itemisation of the other properties has gone. As a development trust, one might assume that the trust would wish to showcase the market as a prime example - if not THE prime example - of its regenerative success and income-generation for good causes. It does not, however, do so. From the charity's literature, you would hardly realise that the market even existed, much less be inspired to ask questions about it. A request [M2] was made to the trust to supply details of income from the market prior to the tender process for which [M1] was issued. Among other things, Brian Deer asked Chris Bailey, the trust's marketing manager to reveal the income to the trust from the market tender under the expired apparent contract with Mr Nixon. On 18th July, Mr Bailey responded, refusing to give the information - on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. Receipts given to stall holders by Mr Nixon's associates are torn from a duplicate book supplied by Rymans or some other stationery outlet. He is said to attend in the area personally from time to time and is alleged to drive a Rolls Royce vehicle. More solid documentation concerning the market's gross takings, business affairs and the application of the cash may have been destroyed. During the tender process, Mr Nixon issued a leaflet to stall holders [M3] noting, among other things, a tragic mishap: "I would ask you to copy everything that you may send to the trust, as tragically our 'Portobello' archive was destroyed by fire last year. It is in all our interests not to give information to strangers or competitors." This document was easily available to the trust - which would have been able to assess its implications during the tendering process. (B) XXXX XXX XXXXX XX XXXXXX XXXX Brian Deer first approached the trust with regard to his inquires for The Sunday Times in August 2000. As documented elsewhere, he was greeted with hostility, obstruction and a series of unwarranted complaints to his editors. Letters were received from: the trust's chair since 1993, Gerald Gordon, a circuit judge sitting at the Central Criminal Court; from the trust's director since 1976, Mr Roger Matland; from the chair of the trust's properties and planning committee since 1984, Mr Martin Owen; and from Mr Martin Sinclair Taylor, the trust's solicitor apparently since its inception. In the course of his inquiries, Brian Deer obtained an undated internal trust list of selected trustees and staff [M4]. The purpose of this list may be purely bureaucratic and it may have been compiled for any number of reasons - perhaps for some kind of event, committee or working party. Nevertheless, it provides useful abbreviated background on what may be some kind of inner circle at the trust. The obstruction of Brian Deer's inquiries and the complaints to Sunday Times executives delayed publication, consumed professional time and created obstacles to information-gathering. As a result, some important leads were not followed-up. One of the most important was xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx [PARAGRAPH WITHHELD] [PARAGRAPH WITHHELD] [PARAGRAPH WITHHELD] [PARAGRAPH WITHHELD] The trust is notoriously litigious. The libel prosecution of Mr Lyn Hardy-Smith related directly to Mr Nixon and the marketplace. Mr Nixon is specifically identified in the letter [L2] to the chair of the charity - on the basis of which the trustees and Roger Matland have perversely pursued Mr Hardy-Smith since 1987. Among other things, the letter says: "During the conversation between Mr Hardy-Smith and Mr Ramsey, Mr Hardy-Smith said 'Did you hear about the court case?' Tony replied 'Yes I did and I am in trouble aren't I, but I was told to sign the affidavit by Maurice after Roger had phoned him and Maurice is the boss." Also: "Later in the day Mr Hardy-Smith explained that at a previous meeting between him and Tony, Tony had confided to him that he knew the details contained in the affidavit were untrue but had no option other than to sign it because of pressure being put on Countrywide director Maurice by Roger Matland of NKAT." The prosecution over this letter - actually signed by a now-deceased local councillor and almost certainly privileged under law and demonstrably without malice - has struck fear in the hearts of those who might otherwise come forward with complaints about the trust.
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