Photos show destruction of century old Derbyshire allotments amid legal battle

Matlock Town Council has released photos showing the scale of the destruction wrought in recent days by representatives for landowner Brian Newton.

A joint statement from the full council said: “We wish to relay our sympathy to the Starkholmes allotment holders and the Starkholmes community given the attempt to destroy the allotments.

“The allotments were very well cared for up until the digger arrived last week. Matlock Town Council is disappointed the landowner has started site clearance action on plots that have been lovingly tended for over a century.”

They added: “We request that activities currently underway to destroy the allotments be stopped and the landowner returns the site to its original state. We call on the landowner and his legal team at Geldards LLP to give us and the wider community assurances that the Queen’s Jubilee Tree on the site will be protected and cared for in situ, in perpetuity.

“The Deputy Lieutenant dedicated the tree last year along with a Royal British Legion monument in celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilee and in remembrance of First World War veterans. The allotments are believed to have been established for those veterans returning from the war.

“We call on Derbyshire Dales District Council to give a public commitment to prioritise and expedite the compulsory purchase order. We will continue to support the community and the allotment holders. We invite the residents of Matlock and the wider Dales to seek support from key stakeholders and make their views known to Sarah Dines MP, district council leader Garry Purdy and the landowner via Geldards.

“The allotments are are a registered asset of community value. We hope that the damage to the allotments will not affect that designation.”

That final point relates to the legal proceedings which reached a First Tier Tribunal at the national General Regulatory Chamber on Tuesday, January 10.

In August 2021, Starkholmes Allotment Association (SAA) successfully applied to have DDDC list the site as an asset of community value (ACV), giving the community first opportunity to bid for the land if it came up for sale within five years.

SAA feared that Mr Newton intended to evict them and make the site available for housing development. Ultimately he did serve an eviction notice for September 2022 and launched an appeal against the ACV decision.

With SAA, town and district councils all exploring legal options to defend the allotments, the original eviction date came and went, but just before Christmas Mr Newton erected barricades around the site.

That move is subject to a separate legal dispute, as is the possibility that councils could force a compulsory purchase of the land, but the tribunal judge is being asked to rule on the ACV status.

The current use of any property is a key factor in that decision and, in a last minute submission to the tribunal, SAA secretary Mary Derrick described how Mr Newton had begun clearing the land.

A spokesperson for Mr Newton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “There hasn't been any damage done. The site is in the ownership of the landlord and it has been in a mess for a long time now and it is being cleaned up. All the property belonging to the allotment holders will be removed and returned to them.”

At the tribunal, Mr Newton said: “The site is not for sale and will not be for sale. The actions I have taken here, over 15 years of owning the site, is part of a bigger picture: the consolidation of my holdings and business interests with regard to the future of my children. The site will not be sold to anybody, certainly not SAA, which I have made very clear to them.”

Tim Braund director of regulatory services at DDDC, defended the authority’s view that there can be “a future use of the land that will further the social interests or social wellbeing of the community.”

Most of the tribunal evidence was submitted in writing – and has yet to be released publicly despite the judge’s request – so there were few revelatory moments from the witness examinations.

However there was some surprise as Mr Newton unveiled plans to establish a Christmas tree plantation on the site for at least five years, at a predicted profit of £137,000.

That could mean the primary use of the land being reclassified from recreation to forestry, which may affect its value to the community and future planning applications.

It would also represent a significant increase on Mr Newton’s income compared with continuing to rent the site to SAA.

Mr Newton told the tribunal that he and his contractors had been operating the site at a loss, having never increased the rent since he purchased it, and that SAA’s latest offer of £1,500 a year still fell £250 short of the estimated operating costs.

Andrew Gill, representing DDDC, and Andrew Gore, for SAA, both probed for holes in the plantation business plan, perhaps unsure whether Mr Newton’s stated intentions were properly developed or a legal manoeuvre.

While Mr Newton and his project partner insisted on the viability of their Christmas tree plan, other parts of the witness examination focused on the possibility of built development, suggesting that would continue to be a lingering concern.

Legal teams for all parties were given until the end of this week to submit their closing arguments.

Readers can make their views known to relevant stakeholders via sarah.dines.mp[at]parliament.uk, garry.purdy[at]derbyshiredales.gov.uk and

info[at]geldards.com.

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