It also stated that the garden was next to, rather than part of, the plot being occupied by a new tenant. “The tenant wasn’t going to be able to do anything with it,” it said. “We have had constructive and productive discussions with Martin over the past week. Eviction was not on the agenda and is not the intention,” it said.
According to the statement, the DHT’s objective was to agree “a physical solution for making the boundary of the forest garden secure and safe, to meet the needs of a prospective tenant for the larger adjoining site of the former college”, and it was working with Crawford on this.
“We understand Martin’s concern about the security of his lease and occupancy. He has already gained a legal opinion telling him he has good security of tenure, but we appreciate that he wants to discuss this further. That is a longer term conversation. It will not, however, include the sale of the plot to ART, or to any other party.”
Refuted
Crawford refuted the DHT’s statement. He had only one meeting with DHT last week, followed up this week by a letter from Lord Triesman that did not offer any long-term security for the site.
“DHT has not rescinded its notice to quit. Whether it does so or not is now irrelevant as our lease runs out in just over three years in any case – this is not good security of tenure,” Crawford said in a statement to The Ecologist.
“From our perspective any agreement to ‘a physical solution’, meaning fencing, to satisfy the Special Educational Needs school interested in taking over the ex-Schumacher College buildings is inextricably linked to DHT coming forward with a solution giving us long term security of tenure.
“We have written to David Triesman making this point and publicly call on DHT to see sense and come to an agreement on this,” he said.
Survival
The Dartington Estate had been set up as a centre of creative innovation since it was bought by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst in 1925.
Considered innovative thinkers of their time, they began to explore how a place could change the world – attracting artists, educators and political philosophers including Jacqueline du Pré, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, T E Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’), HG Wells, James Lovelock, Amory Lovins and Jonathon Porritt.
They restored the estate’s buildings and land and carried out ground-breaking experiments in land use, farming and education. The DHT was established in 1932 to oversee the Elmhirst’s charitable work.
But the charity is now struggling for its own survival. Its annual accounts for the year ending August 2023 was filed with the Charity Commission eight months late – a delay caused by “the complexity and scale of our present financial and operational restructuring,” according to the statement from Lord Triesman.
DHT suffered operating loss of £4.53m, according to the accounts. It received £13.85m from its activities, while it spent a total of £18.38m.
High-profile
The trusts’ turnaround strategy is aimed at securing a sustainable future for Dartington Estate, “which is not dependent on a perennial combination of disposals, unpredictable benefaction and hope,” he wrote. “While the Trust is a registered charity, our status is not a charter to make continual losses,” he added.
The COVID pandemic, war in Ukraine and cost of living crisis had all contributed to the Trust’s financial problems, which had ‘plunged it into survival mode’, he wrote, meaning it could no longer subsidise ‘a preponderance of loss-making events, enterprises and initiatives” offered by the trust.
A note from the independent auditor of the accounts stated that there was “a material uncertainty… on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
In August 2024, Schumacher College, which ran ecology-centred degree programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes and has been supported by DHT since 1991, discontinued its degree awarding courses with immediate effect after being notice on its tenancy. The college was located on the Dartington Estate, next to Crawford’s garden.
A statement by DHT at the time said: “Schumacher College continues to incur substantial monthly losses and Dartington is unable to underwrite this deficit indefinitely from its limited reserves.”
Energies
The DHT’s turnaround plan, detailed in its accounts, included “reviewing occupancy across the estate…. and attracting landmark tenants onto the estate”.
The Charity Commission has opened regulatory compliance case on the DHT. A step below a formal investigation, these type of cases focus on ensuring that trustees address any failures in the management of the charity. A spokesperson said: “We continue to engage with trustees of the Dartington Hall Trust as part of an ongoing regulatory compliance case.”
A petition set up by students at the University of Sussex to save the garden and asking the DHT to change its mind has now attracted almost 28,000 signatures. The support has been “amazing, and very positive for us to receive”, Crawford said.
Public support, including high-profile figures in the horticulture and ecology world such as Sir Ghillean Prance, a former director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Dave Goulson, a professor of biology at the University of Sussex and bee expert.
This Author
Catherine Early is a freelance environmental journalist and chief reporter for The Ecologist. Find her on Bluesky @catearly.bsky.social. The Ecologist is owned and published by The Resurgence Trust. Satish Kumar is the founder and a member of the management team of the Resurgence Trust. He is also the founder of Schumacher College, until recently also a long term tenant of the Dartington Hall Trust, which is now reemerging as Schumacher Wild.
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