Warren Farm Campaigners' Announce Final Battle
Legal challenge over decision to lease public land to QPR 
Ealing residents are mounting a last challenge to try and save Warren Farm School Sports Centre for the community.
They're planning to crowdfund to raise money and are aiming to take Ealing Council to court - one more time.
The group, Save Warren Farm (SWF), has been campaigned for the last three years after Ealing Council gave the go-ahead to QPR to use the land for a multi-million pound training facility.
The council claim the football club will invest millions of pounds into community sports facilities and a sports development programme but SWF argue public land shouldn't be 'given away' to a private company.
In 2014 the High Court rejected a Judicial Review and earlier this year legal challenges made by the group over protecting footpaths on the land also failed. Howver, residents are not giving up.
Malcolm Weller of the Save Warren Farm Campaign says:
''We are confident that we can raise this money through the power of local people and crowdfunding, and have already briefed our legal team to initiate proceedings,
'' Working together, we have stopped this for four years, thanks to people who have already donated to this cause. Ealing is wrong to give away public land for private gain, and we are taking them to Judicial Review to prove this.”
Alice Roberts of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England says: '' “This is London’s open green space and Ealing Council should not be enabling this large development, so damaging to the landscape. Leasing the land rent-free to a private company for 200 years is astonishing.
” The alternative vision is to build a modest new community pavilion to service all the pitches for schools and sporting clubs, and keep the entire site for community use, thus protecting London’s green space. This is feasible, but we have to stop the Council from giving away public land to private owners first.''
SWF argue:
Ealing Council plans to lease 61 acres of publicly-owned community sports fields for 200 years at no rent to a privately owned company
The Council has granted planning permission to QPR football club, owned by billionaires, to build a Training and Academy facility on the site for the benefit of their own shareholders
Current plans increase the built footprint on this Metropolitan Open Land (London’s Green Belt) by over 300%, and wipe out a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation
QPR would level the land with 180,000 cubic metres of landfill through a ‘muck away’ scheme. This amounts to 150 trucks per day thundering through narrow roads, to and from the site, five days a week, for eight months.
QPR would make around £4 million from this scheme.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure, said:
''The current agreement with QPR is a once in a life time opportunity and an excellent deal for residents which will see the club invest millions of pounds into new facilities for the use of the whole community including sports facilities for residents and a comprehensive community sports development programme at no cost to tax payers.
''One of our priorities is to make Ealing a healthier place to live and this investment in Warren Farm will enable many of our residents to get active.
''It is disappointing that a judicial review has been made, particularly as one judge has already refused the application for one. If it goes ahead we will continue to fight for these fantastic new facilities for our residents.''
3rd November 2016 (updated)