Labour-run Ealing Council is facing mounting anger from residents, campaigners and opposition political parties over plans for a temporary three-year 1,200-seat Troubadour Theatres venue in Walpole Park and the way the proposal has been announced, amid concerns about the impact it will have on the historic park, its wildlife and the public’s access to the open green space.
Since the plans were revealed by Ealing Council on its Around Ealing website last week (2 September 2026), Ealing Parks Foundation has come out strongly against the proposed location, residents have taken to social media to express their concerns, hundreds of people have signed petitions against the plans, campaigners have been distributing leaflets and a protest is now planned outside the council’s Perceval House headquarters.
The opposition comes ahead of an Ealing Council cabinet meeting on Wednesday (9 September), when cabinet members from the Labour-run administration will be asked to agree in principle to plans for a three-and-a-half-year lease of part of the park to Troubadour Theatres, allowing the proposal to move forward to consultation and the planning process.
A report to cabinet written by Joyce Guthrie, Ealing Council’s assistant director for leisure and culture, recommends that cabinet agrees to the proposal in principle.
The report says the proposal could bring a major new cultural attraction to Ealing, support the local economy and create more than 40 full-time equivalent jobs, while allowing the council to test whether a theatre of this scale is viable in the borough.
It also says there would be no capital or revenue cost to the council.
Troubadour, which operates theatres in Wembley and Canary Wharf, wants to build a temporary theatre in the park which would stage more than eight performances a week.
According to Ealing Council, it was approached by Troubadour Theatres, which proposed bringing a temporary theatre to the borough. The company would fund, develop and operate the venue.
A Troubadour Theatres site plan for the proposed venue in Walpole Park seen by EALING.NEWS is dated 23 April 2024, more than two years before the plans were made public on 3 September 2026. EALING.NEWS has asked Ealing Council when it first began discussions with Troubadour Theatres about the proposal.
Troubadour would pay Ealing Council a fixed fee for a period of three years. The proposed lease itself would run for three-and-a-half years, including time for construction and dismantling. The published report does not explain whether any separate payment would be made for the additional six months.
Details of the fee Troubadour would pay Ealing Council are not being made public, with the financial information contained in a confidential appendix to the cabinet report. The council says it is exempt from disclosure under the Local Government Act 1972 because it relates to financial or business affairs.
The council says income received from Troubadour would be used to “support the provision and improvement of parks and open spaces across the borough, including areas that have experienced budget reductions in recent years”.
An official petition lodged through Ealing Council’s ePetition system had attracted over 450 signatures by Sunday evening, less than than a day after it opened.
A separate Change.org petition has also attracted hundreds of signatures. Both raise concerns about the scale and location of the development, its impact on park users and wildlife, and potential noise, traffic and parking problems.
Opponents have also produced a “Save Walpole Park” leaflet which has been distributed over the weekend, calling on residents to sign the Change.org petition and join a protest against the plans.
The protest is due to take place outside Perceval House at 4.30pm on Wednesday (9 Septembet 2026), ahead of the cabinet meeting at which the proposal will be considered.
Opposition has also focused on the choice of Walpole Park as a venue, rather than Troubadour bringing a theatre to Ealing.
A spokesperson for campaigners against the plans to put the theatre in Walpole Park told EALING.NEWS: “To be clear, many members of the community we have spoken to support the idea of Troubadour coming to Ealing, just in an appropriate location that doesn’t impact and remove green space in a public park. Walpole should be protected for the community and not exploited for commercial use. Most view the idea of this being a temporary initiative as totally disingenuous.”
Voicing their concerns, Ealing Parks Foundation (EPF), which works to support parks and green spaces across the borough and protect and enhance wildlife, heritage and biodiversity, issued a statement to EALING.NEWS.
Co-chairs Jane Fernley and Paul Carter said: “Ealing Parks Foundation strongly objects to the proposed location of the Troubadour Theatre in Walpole Park; a much needed, high quality green space in central Ealing.”
They said the scheme had been developed “without any prior community engagement” and criticised what they said was a failure by the cabinet report to address a number of potential impacts.
They said: “The Cabinet report fails to mention the many potential negative impacts on would-be park users, residents, the green space, trees and wildlife.”
Ms Fernley told EALING.NEWS that the Troubadour proposal was not mentioned at the Ealing Parks Forum when it met last month (20 August 2026), despite Ealing Council officers being present.
She said: “It should have been raised as part of the Parks Team update.”
Explaining the role of the forum, Ms Fernley said: “The forum was set up to enable friends groups and other green and blue space groups to meet with council officers to share and discuss current issues and future plans.”
Ms Fernley said neither EPF nor the Parks Forum had received information about the proposal from the council before details of the cabinet meeting and report became publicly available.
She told EALING.NEWS: “We are extremely disappointed not to have had any prior notice of the plans, particularly in view of the recent forum and meetings with the strategic director.”
Ms Fernley also said nobody from the council had contacted EPF or the Parks Forum directly about the proposal or their concerns since the plans became public.
Ms Fernley and Mr Carter also questioned the timing of the proposal in relation to the council’s Green Infrastructure Strategy and Nature Recovery Plan.
They said: “It is illogical that it is being rushed through in advance of the Green Infrastructure Strategy and Nature Recovery Plan, which it has just commissioned.”
The foundation wants the council to consider another location for the theatre.
Ms Fernley and Mr Carter said: “The proposed 1,200 seat theatre would be much better located on a brownfield/ meanwhile site.
“It is disappointing that the Council have not considered alternative locations, which could equally benefit the borough and its residents, and that these are not being presented to Cabinet for consideration.”
The concerns about consultation come as senior members of the Labour administration have already spoken positively about the proposal, despite cabinet not yet having agreed in principle for it to progress.
Ealing Council leader Councillor Peter Mason has described the proposal as “potentially a fantastic opportunity” and linked it to his administration’s ambitions for arts and culture in the borough.
He said: “This administration promised to bring world class performing arts to the borough.”
Councillor Mason has also said the proposed theatre could boost the local economy and create job opportunities, particularly for cafes, shops and restaurants in West Ealing and Ealing Broadway.
He said: “This gives us the opportunity to test whether Ealing can support a theatre of this scale while protecting Walpole Park for future generations.”
Councillor Mason said: “It’s potentially a fantastic opportunity and, therefore, it is one we look forward to exploring with residents.”
Councillor Lauren Wall, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for thriving communities, has also spoken positively about the proposal.
She said: “A theatre of this calibre could give residents the chance to enjoy world-class productions closer to home while helping us become a cultural destination for west London. That is why we are looking at this proposal.”
Councillor Wall added: “We know residents will have questions as well as ideas, and we want to hear them. That’s why I’d encourage everyone to get involved in the engagement events and consultation.”
Her comments come as EPF says the scheme has already been “worked up without any prior community engagement”.
The Liberal Democrats, the official opposition on Ealing Council, are also campaigning against the Walpole Park location and have called for the proposal to be stopped and an alternative site found.
The party has launched its own petition against the plans, separate from the official Ealing Council ePetition, and has had over 1,000 people sign it.
Councillor Ksenia Maximova, Liberal Democrat councillor for Walpole ward, said: “Liberal Democrats say that Labour’s plans to build on Walpole Park’s Metropolitan open land (MOL) is wrong. Our parks and open spaces should be preserved and not destroyed.
“We urge people to sign the petition to stop Labour from causing harm to our well-loved and used Walpole Park.”
Councillor Adam Keenan, Liberal Democrat councillor for neighbouring Ealing Broadway ward, told EALING.NEWS: “Liberal Democrats say it is alarming to hear Ealing Council is planning to build on Ealing’s premier park. There are plenty of brownfield sites across the borough that would make an ideal location for a professional theatre. The council needs to listen to residents, and take this back to the drawing board.”
Walpole Park is in Walpole ward, which is represented by three Liberal Democrat councillors. The party won all three seats from Labour at the May 2026 Ealing Council elections.
Councillor Clare Welsby, leader of Ealing Green Party councillors and a Hanwell Broadway councillor, whose ward neighbours Walpole, has raised concerns about the impact on the park itself Ealing’s summer festivals and the environment.
She said: “Yes, we can have a new theatre in Ealing but not in Walpole or any other park.”
Councillor Julian Gallant, leader of Ealing Conservatives also voiced his concerns. He told EALING.NEWS: “Conservative councillors are deeply sympathetic to the views of Ealing residents alarmed by the prospect of a temporary theatre which will occupy a whole third of Walpole Park and which will have an effect on the wider area. There are many questions to be answered, which we will be putting to Cabinet prior to its preliminary decision”.
Sonja Garsvo, former chair of Ealing Parks Foundation and a former trustee of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery Trust, has also spoken out against the proposal.
Ms Garsvo, who has had a long involvement with Walpole Park and Pitzhanger, has called for full consultation and assessments of the potential impact on the park, traffic and noise.
She said: “A public park is just the wrong place for this.”
Ms Garsvo has also raised concerns about the potential impact on The Questors Theatre, the established 400-seat theatre in Mattock Lane immediately next to Walpole Park, which stages productions throughout the year.
Walpole Park is a Grade II registered park and garden and was historically the grounds of Pitzhanger Manor, the Grade I listed country house designed by architect Sir John Soane.
Under the plans, the theatre would have more than 1,200 seats and include a box office, bar, merchandise shop and food outlets, as well as backstage, production and servicing areas.
The Ealing Summer Festivals currently held in Walpole Park would be moved to other locations across the borough.
In its report to cabinet, the council said the three-year theatre would be used to “test the concept that a theatre is viable” and support the case for a permanent theatre at a different site elsewhere in the borough.
Subject to the necessary approvals, construction could start in January 2027, with the theatre due to open in April 2027 and operate until March 2030.
Ealing Council says dismantling would then take around three months before the site was restored to public parkland.
Wednesday’s cabinet decision does not confirm final approval for the theatre.
The development would still have to go through the planning process, including referral to the Mayor of London, when residents and businesses would have an opportunity to have their say.
The council’s report also identifies planning complexity, Walpole Park’s Metropolitan Open Land status, heritage impacts, consultation requirements and the proposed timetable among the constraints facing the project.
Because the proposal involves leasing public open space, Ealing Council would have to advertise its intention to dispose of the land for two consecutive weeks in a local newspaper.
Any objections would have to be considered before the proposal returns to cabinet for a final decision on whether to grant the lease.
Ealing Council and Troubadour Theatres have been approached for comment.
