Dear all, whilst I welcome Christopher Ray's (14/5/97) critique of the
indaequacy of the legal/planning system to really address the needs
of people and the environment, he has unfortunately overplayed the
significance of the House of Lords' decision. As the update below
suggests, the case only DEFINITIVELY secures the tenure of Dai Morris
and his family, but in reality it should extend to 12 of the 27
chalets.
The case is complex and there have been many representations which
suggest this "happy ever after for Holtsfield" scenario ( e.g. the
Swansea Evening Post 1/5/97, p1.) PLease read and act on the
following update, distribute as widely as possible. I am happy to
provide further info for those interested,
Ian Maxey.
HOLTSFIELD CAMPAIGN UPDATE
SUCCESS AT THE HOUSE OF LORDS BUT WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP!
On 1st May the House of Lords gave their judgement on the test case which many
thought marked the end of an eight year battle to save the self-built chalet
community of Holtsfield (see Red |Pepper April 97, p.9). The case was a wonderful result in that it gave complete
protection to Dai Morris and his family, asserting their right to remain in the
chalet which they have built and maintained for 20 years.
Whilst the case was everything that could have been hoped for, the community is
still under threat from would be "developer" Tim Jones. The case will almost
certainly be extended to 11 more of the chalets which will then have protected
tenancies on them. Unfortunately, that leaves many of the other chalets
unprotected and over the last two weeks Mr. Jones has written to the 8 most
vulnerable chalet households informing them of his plans to evict them at the
earliest opportunity and urging them to leave their homes immediately! The
horrific scenes witnessed in Nov. 1995 - of families being evicted from their idyllic
homes - could be repeated within the next few weeks! In '95 the evictions were
stopped pending the House of Lords appeal. Direct and urgent action is now
needed to stop this latest and most pointless threat.
Who can take this action?
The newly formed City and County of Swansea Council are doing all they can to
help the community. They are looking into the possibility of making a
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of the land and then selling it back to the
residents, for example. But this idea is still in its early stages and will take at
least 18 months. 8 families could be evicted before this takes effect.
The Residents of Holtsfield continue to balance living in a mixed, low impact
community with running a campaign for its very survival. They are currently
following every avenue open to them, from working with the Council and Housing
Associations on purchasing proposals to preparing phone trees and lock-ons should
the unthinkable, but threatened evictions actually happen!
You and I can help by writing to Barclays at the addresses below, stressing that
while there has always been a moral imperative for Barclays to close the account
of the developer Tim Jones' company Elitestone Ltd., there is now a clear financial
responsibility also.
Barclays are finally listening to this growing pressure, the more we can do to
increase it the better our chances of getting them to end their support of
Elitestone Ltd. and the destructive evictions. We should bring the following to
their attention:-
- Elitestone Ltd. is over 750 000 pounds stlg. overdrawn to Barclays.
- The House of Lords judgement effectively means that 12 of the 27 chalets have
Rent Act protected tenants (although only Dai and Jude Morris' case is currently
settled, the other 11 are certain to follow).
- The Council designated Holtsfield a Conservation Area in 1990. As such a
"development" of the kind that Tim Jones was hoping for will never be allowed by
the Council. In fact ownership of the area has become a liability from the
perspective of such a "developer". Whoever owns the wooden chalets will be
required to maintain and where necessary upgrade them. The Council's
Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment (NRA) sets out what this would entail and
estimates the costs to be over 250 000 pounds stlg. Elitestone will, in the near
future be confirmed as the owners liable for this outlay.
- Elitestone Ltd. is liable for Court costs in excess of 100 000
pounds stlg. Holtsfield's solicitor will be asking for surety from Barclays Bank that this money will be paid before
any further actions are taken through the Courts.
- Having bought the land for 174 000 pounds stlg. Tim Jones insists that he will accept no
less than 1 500 000 pounds stlg. for the land. It can never approach that value. The residents
remain as keen as ever to ensure the purchase of the land at a fair and reasonable
price, so ensuring the future of the community.
Please contact the following, asking them to do all they can on this matter:-
Gareth George, Director,
Barclays Bank (Wales)
PO Box 323
4th Floor
Windsor Court
3 Windsor Place
Cardiff CF1 3BT
and
Martin Taylor
Barclays Bank plc.
54 Lombard St.
London EC3P 3AH.
Hypocracy or potential leverage point?
It may be worth noting that Martin Taylor has recently been
apppointed as adviser on Tax and Welfare to Gordon Brown!
The Labour Party has been supportive of the Campaign, for example the Wales
Labour Pary Conference 1996 passed a motion of support and Ron
Davies, now the Secretary of State for Wales was present. In addition
local MP's such as Martion Kayton have been very supportive, so there
may be some additional scope for pressurising Barclays through New
Labour.
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