We are delighted that our local MP Victoria Collins has offered to speak to the National Trust and contact the Secretary of State for DEFRA on our behalf. This gives rise to a plan to get Little Heath Farm back. We have so many emails and calls of support, over 300 in 3 days.

This has become more than what has happened to us. We are somewhat taken aback that over last week after eviction from Little Heath on 1st April, we have been told of what seems to be a ground swell of antipathy towards the National Trust that many we spoke to say has been building for several years. Over 80% of people we spoke to now dislike the National Trust, some saying they had cancelled their membership. We are told that the National Trust is now under the control of 'business people' focussed on reaping as much as they can from the public. Of course, this is spent on the vast amount of money needed for historic building upkeep, but, methods used are, it seems, becoming counter productive causing alienation - as is in our case.

Bear in mind that National Trust owns millions of acres across England, if your house or farm or land has a small bit of land between your entrance and the road, it maybe National Trust land and the same could happen to you if you carry out any development or major improvement with planning permission - they told us that it is any increased value within past 20 years. It would not be worth their while to go after small value improvements and small extensions.

About Little Heath Farm

Little Heath Farm, Nursery and Tea Room is, as many of our customers love, a magical place where time seems to stands still while choosing plants and enjoying tea, coffee and home cooked cakes and light lunches, either sitting inside or out amongst the flowers, trees, bird songs and beautiful setting in the greenbelt next to an area of outstanding natural beauty. The slightly dilapidated look is what people say they love. We blend with and look after nature. Having been nearly wiped out by Covid, we had just fought back to income covering costs. It has always been run out of love for the place.

It is a site of unique historical interest as well. if you were to go down our inner road between the listed Farmhouse and Barn (now residential) on the right, and the old barns on the left that were converted to residential use during the 1980's and 1990's, they still looks much the same as it did in c.1830 when built. Almost nothing facing the Farmhouse has changed and you can easily picture horse drawn hay ricks passing up between the buildings. As far as we have been able to find out, it is the only intact unchanged early 1800's farmyard, and this deserves historical merit and protection. Since David and Ingrid purchased Little Heath Farm in 1970 and rescued very dilapidated building, their whole objective has been to preserve the historic buildings.

That is all being lost

Now all that is about to be destroyed and probably bulldozed away due to the financial greed of the National Trust. For over 420 years Little Heath Farm has passed over a small strip of land along Little Heath Lane which the National Trust took ownership of when it was created in 1895 and it inherited Little Heath Farm's long standing right of access over that strip of land. National Trust even wrote to confirm that Little Heath Farm had Prescriptive Rights of access which gives legal right to pass over the land and that this applied to all existing uses (Tearoom, Shops, Garden Nursery and 5 residential cottages).

National Trust indefensible actions

Instead National Trust imposed ransom strip fee of £335k to pass over that strip of land. Initially it was demanded October 2023 upon issuing a formal agreement, but after our anger that this killed the whole Farm, they relented to make the fee payable if we later converted some old shops and store to residential.

National Trust treated our planning enquiry about later conversion as if it was an approved planning permission and estimated the increased value demanding a £335k share of that increase that was not a value that existed unless at some time in the future, if ever, made that planning application. We had to pay all their valuer and legal costs of over £5k !!!!!

National Trust had no lawful reason not to grant a simple unconditional Easement for the existing uses they agreed had access permission. They refused to grant access agreement based on the legally binding Prescriptive Rights and instead imposed an easement agreement including a future £335k liability registered against the title of Little Heath Farm. This caused our loan provider to devalue the Farm leaving insufficient value for the loan we had.

National Trust first wrote to confirm they would issue a formal access agreement early in 2022. It was 20 months before they actually issued the first draft. They delayed and delayed while we wrote to them again and again and again of the damage they were doing to us with £18,000/month interest being added to the loan we now had to repay. They only issued the first draft in Oct 2023 after we wrote saying we would sue them for loss of the Farm. We could not raise a new loan because each lender we went to reacted negatively to the £335k future charge.

In the end we have had our Farm taken by MT Finance and we were evicted 1st April. We have 2 weeks to clear over 14 tonnes of plants, equipment and materials, and just 2 of us left to do it.

Who is to blame

We do not blame MT Finance, they are fully entitled to long-overdue repayment of their loan. We do not not oppose National Trust seeking a share of uplifted value obtained by passing over their land, they have to fund the huge cost of preserving our Nation's architectural history, and we had told them that.

We DO BLAME National Trust for the appalling and indefensible way that they carried out the Easement agreement with complete disregard for time and the £000's of interest they were told repeatedly that we suffered month after month while they delayed and delayed and delayed, until it killed us.

Consequences

Because of National Trust, over £85,000 has been paid out in legal costs and fees, over £300,000 in interest and over £300,000 that David and Ingrid spent on the refurbishment of the cottages by selling another house left to Ingrid by her Mother, plus the loss of Little Heath Farm. They are distressed beyond measure that after years of work to preserve Little Heath Farm buildings and its setting, they have lost it all.

Visit our website where we give more information www.littleheathfarmnursery.co.uk

Please sign our petition which will help us fight back against National Trust. They should take ownership of what they have done and remediate.

Also, so that MT Finance do not clear the site and destroy what was and still is lovely, Please help this by sending MT Finance a short email expressing your support for protecting what is currently there. Remember, they are not to blame for all this - so far !!!!

Send email to redemptions@mt-finance.com