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 will never understand why folk think what they have to say may be relevant in any way whatsoever on a thread with 1000 comments, when they haven't RTFT.

I mean seriously

I would never have guessed this was going to turn into such a funny thread.

I think you've done Babs a kindness... for all her bravado she knows it's not hers.

You're being clear and reasonable. I just hope she's not entitled to adverse possession ;-)

OP have you considered getting legal advice around adverse possession?

That was more to the doubling down on posting the advice and saying you couldn't be bothered to read the thread, which to be honest does make you look dim. But fair enough, it was too mean, I apologise. Can we go back to this being a pleasant fun thread please?

@Cristall
WTF did I just watch??!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Not really. He’s told us before how they get calls for people saying someone banging on their door threatening them and they go round to find a high court enforcement officer making a perfectly legal eviction so they prefer a heads up. This obviously isn’t as extreme but you see my point.

OP have you ruled out adverse possession? 😜

and you do know Babs has a moral right to your land and why didn't you know you had an allotment - are you sure its an allotment because councils own them - before you bought.

And your solicitor was negligent and you should sue because she should have known that there was an allotment and that Babs saw it as her second home even though the seller said you were getting vacant possession.

You need to sue them all hun

I hope Sally Wainwright is on MN and has sprung her typewriter into action

We either need gritty Sally or cutesy Nick Park.

You aren’t being selfish at all. It’s your land. I hope you and your DH get years of pleasure from it.

Every time Babs is mentioned an image keeps springing to mind, and I finally found it!

You are not being selfish for using your own land! Ignore the Be Kind morons. And no, your neighbours won't hate you. This will all blow over soon.

She's had the absolute privilege of using land that she has not paid for for an entire decade. She never had any moral entitlement to the land and she requires no sympathy for this undeserved gift coming to an end.

Barbara is a cunt. She knew that her friend's land had been sold and she carried on using it as her own regardless. She deserves no compassion whatsoever and her upset is entirely self-inflicted. Even if she had somehow been misled, her feelings about having to give up someone else's land are not remotely relevant. That's what happens when you use something that isn't yours: you eventually have to give it back. She knew this when she took it on.

The one thing I would say, that I don't think has been suggested yet, is to set up a trail camera to surveille your plot. These are battery-operated and motion-activated, and designed to capture wildlife. I say this because as previously mentioned, Barbara is a cunt and is highly likely to sabotage your allotment before or after she leaves.

I agree, as if 70 pages of opinions probably aren't going to cover everything extensively...... What's that nearly 2,000 different posts? Nothing unique is going to magically appear at this point

oh I love this! But that is Pauline! Babs is someone VERY different

Isn't Babs the transgender taxi driver?

No, this is definitely Barbara.

Dianne Morgan is a goddess and I would watch this repeatedly, on a loop, for days at a time if she was in it.
However I am now incapable of imagining the op as anything other than Mandy. (‘An air fryer? Who wants fried air?’)

@YaMuvva Sounds like Harrogate or Knaresborough. I had no idea there were any owned allotments. Wish I had one!

@Happinessisamyth I was thinking of Babs the taxi driver but the image in my head was definitely Pauline!

Same here @Snowfairyxx Harrogate?

after reading this and the previous thread, I am amazed that some posters think the OP is being unreasonable. It’s her land, end of. Bab’s KNEW it wasn’t hers. Does that mean in society where we have clear rules and we PAY for land and property, we all think we are morally entitled to something just because time has passed and we have ‘made it our own’ even though we know it’s not ours? Can you imagine the chaos if everyone did this????? Batshit. Honestly batshit…

I'm planning which cake to bring to the party, @YaMuvva - carrot, courgette or beetroot?

yes, from Babs Cabs. 'I've come on, my bed was like a butchers slab'

I love Dianne Morgan. Mandy is just fab! I can watch her forever