The Council has told me that Fulham Town Hall was finally sold earlier this month.

In principle this is good news. It was agreed by the Conservative Council back in 2012 that selling the building made sense. We don’t really need two town halls in the borough.

The deal was that this fine Grade Two listed building would still have the Council Chamber, the Mayor’s Parlour and the wedding area in public use. The Council Taxpayer would benefit from a capital receipt to reduce debt (and thus the cost of interest) and also save the very heft maintenance costs.

The trouble is the whole process has dragged on.

As the Fulham Society has noted the building has become rather shabby. Plaster fell off Fulham Town Hall around last September and the pavement had to be closed to protect pedestrians.

Keeping it empty for all these years has been unfortunate.  Fulham Town Hall has deteriorated while still costing us a considerable sum in security, insurance and so on.

At first it was expected to be a hotel, then an emporium owned by an American firm called Dory Ventures – but there planning application was rejected because they wanted to change the building too much. Fair enough rejecting it but did the whole process really need to take so long?

I have asked who the building has been sold to, how much for and what is planned for the site.