CF allotment thief part 2: the Battle of Barbara and the Beansprouts

[YaMuvva]

Hi all, sorry I didn’t get a chance to post the link to this in the last thread, but it filled up too quickly.

So, another update

DH and I sat and had a looooong talk last night. We poured over every option, the pro’s and cons and the best and worst case scenarios. We thought of every possible situation that could arise from each option and we made a decision this morning.

it was actually the best/worst case scenario talk that clinched it.
Best case scenario for selling it to her was we get a little bit of money. Worst case is we have no allotment and the house possibly devalues.

Best case scenario for if we shared the land is that she is a pleasant plot neighbour and isn’t bitter that we are on the land that used to be ‘hers’ and doesn’t try to boss us about. But worst case scenario is that she remains bitter and makes our lives hell, interferes and our allotment space becomes an unbearable place to be.

Best case scenario for if we keep it to ourselves is we have the enjoyment of a long awaited allotment, one that makes a massive difference to DH’s MH and our general life enjoyment. Worst case scenario is that we make a neighbour - who is smart enough to find another plot or use her own generous garden - cross.

We figured that the worst case scenarios for all 3 weren’t worth risking the absolute best case scenario could bring.

So we are kicking her off.

We discussed letting her wait some months before making her leave or until the end of the growing season around about the end of September. But that when you consider the weather, that would mean we wouldn’t truly be able to enjoy the allotment in good weather for a whole year. I know it can still be enjoyed in horrible weather but the thought of missing out on a whole entire summer of gardening, relaxing and recuperating just feels too long. She has also indicated she will fight us - well she can try and she won’t win so I’d rather the ‘fight’ was a short one not a long one

We went to the plot this morning (no Babs in sight!) and took a soil test, took pictures, used that app to mark the plots (thanks to PP for the tips), and measured it and took pictures of the measurements/readings. From what we can tell she has root veg, fruit and a little herb garden patch, all growing fairly well considering the time of year. We didn’t disturb anything

Going to call the home insurers today to see if we can get legal cover and reclaim costs from the previous owner so solicitors can write her a letter - if not we will just instruct our current solicitors and make the reclaim too. I know we could do a letter ourselves but I really think a legal middle man would be worth the money. We will take solicitors advice on how much notice to give her - but it won’t be long notice. No point, may as well rip the plaster off now. We won’t be offering to buy the shed as I don’t want to be beholden to Barbara or have her make out to others that we stole the shed. We want a clean slate, to pick our own items.

I do feel bad that Barbara will be losing something that is so dear to her and that her ‘sanctuary’ will be taken away but the bottom line is it does not belong to her and she has known this for 10 years. She could have spent that 10 years, or even just the nine months since the house went on the market, to find another sanctuary. We are being selfish, we have been through unimaginable struggles and it’s time to just live for ourselves not a random neighbour. If that makes us a pariah in the community I can take it.

DH also messaged our police officer friend of ours this morning who said if the time comes to bin her stuff and dismantle the shed to call 101 and tell them “We are doing this, it’s our property and we will handle everything with care and bring it to her home” and then if she calls them saying we are stealing or damaging our property then we are one step ahead at least.

I watch lots of those Balliff programmes and I think you can squat in disused business premises and owners have to evict them through legal means. You can’t squat in a residential property.

Morally owning something...

Owning something someone else is a CFer about and you can't seem to stop them?

Owning something and just giving it away to someone else because they want it?

I don't have a hot tub and I'd really benefit from one - morally, someone who owns a hot tub should give me theirs as I need it more.

Lets see how that works...

Good luck

Fingers crossed some of these neighbours will step up and offer their allotment to Barbara.
If they were that socially minded, they would have done that as soon as house went on the market.

Barbara sounds like the kind of person many people won't cross but secretly loathe. If the OP and o/h manage to depose her politely but firmly and legally there will be at least as much approval as disapproval. Most normal people don't admire encroachers and advantage-takers.

Sounds like this poster challenged a claim for adverse possession and lost. Babs has no legal basis on which to claim adverse possession as she had the previous owners’ permission to use it. Plus she hasn’t worked it for the required 12 years.

This in my personal experience

Ive read all three threads now. I absolutely think youre making the right decision. No grey areas

Hope you don't expect to make friends there and have a good relationship with neighbours. Social links are VERY strong in the allotment community

Especially if they know she has been having an awful time in her private life and counted on this allotment for her sanity

If they know she's having a hard time then they would be incredibly mean not to give her THEIR land then wouldnt they? after all, they've known her longer and so its more appropriate for them to gift land to their friend surely?

Anyway I haven’t managed to call the insurers today I’ll do it tomorrow or Monday and see if I can make a claim. I promise to update you all, and ask if any TV producers are watching that they may have the rights to this story on the premise they cast the following:
Me - Joanna Frogatt
DH - Rob James Collier
Previous owner - Maggie Smith
Siobhan Finneran - the woman who plays Camilla in The Windsors
Garage thief - Adrian Scarborough

Curious, what if she was doing something illegal on the land - growing cannabis or whatever might feasibly grow on an allotment?
Would the land owner be liable for this or just Barbara?

#babsmustgo
She knew that she didn't own the land, and she knew it was being sold. She could have approached the OP when they moved in, and asked kindly for one last growing season, for old time's sake. In those circumstances I'd personally be inclined to agree. But instead, she hid and got defensive. Babs needs to take the L and move on

Look I can tell you categorically that BigBabs is not having an awful time. She is absolutely living her best life and is out nearly every day at hot yoga, macrame, pottery and goat keeping classes. She goes out nearly every evening with one of her many gentleman friends, loves a vodka and tonic and enjoys a regular Camberwell Carrot. She is the mainstay of the local swingers group and her pampas grass is the envy of the neighbourhood.

People on here have meltdowns when someone parks too near their house on a public road but OP should hand over land she’s bought to a stranger because of some weird moral code?!

This place gets more batshit by the day. The ‘Poor Barbaras’ are making even the poo trolls seem normal.

I see all the refuseniks who still persist in calling private land an allotment
No sentimentality required lawyer up and give her both barrels
Babs is wiley woman who wants to retain land she has no claim too and if she has to resort to crocodile tears and handwringing yea she’ll do that

@YaMuvva try contacting Mark Dawson at AST Assist. He's an eviction specialist and comes highly recommended. I'm not sure he'll deal with plots of land evictions, but he is excellent when it comes to property eviction. Worth trying, and he's cheaper than solicitors, as well as acting much quicker than them.

Morally owning:-
My mum owned some expensive jewellery then passed away in an accident; she didn’t have a will so legally they belonged to my dad (her next of kin).
He gave them to his new wife (my stepmother). When my dad died she gave this jewellery to her daughter.
Legally they were hers to give away, but do you think I had any rights to my mum’s jewellery?
Legally no but morally, what do you think?

She presumably knew her 'dear friend' was moving so she must have expected the new owners would claim their own allotment

Who is Olivia Coleman going to play? She's in everything.

@YaMuvva - if you do sell the rights to a TV producer, they could call it 'The Plot'.

Completely missing the point of the the thread but...

The log book is not proof of ownership so if there was no formal agreement in place and the owner died it would indeed be considered part of their estate.

I think really you could just destroy the shed and dig the lot up, who’s to know Barbra told you she’s using it?

What’s Barbara going to do, go to a solicitor who will look at the land registry and say well they own it, you’ve got no paperwork to show you’ve got the right to use it, I can’t do anything 🤷‍♀️

Say she’s got more money than sense and it goes to court, all you do is show the judge the land registry title and say yeah, we took down a shed on our land, she says she told us it was hers but I don’t recall that conversation, here’s the paperwork from the seller, doesn’t say anything about Barbra having the right to use it 🤷‍♀️.

ITS NOT AN ALLOTMENT ITS PRIVATE LAND
Be kind? Christ alive she’s a chancer who’s had free use of someone land and expected that to be retained. Kind? Fuck that. Lawyer up and get her gone

The solicitor.

Good call.