Villagers accuse National Trust of cashing in on garden 'legacy'

SCOTLAND'S leading conservation charity has sparked fury by deciding to sell off a community garden in a historic hamlet - despite benefiting from a £1 million legacy for more than 30 years from a local campaigner.

Christina McNiven left her entire estate to the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) in 1978, including her home in Duddingston, Edinburgh, with instructions it be used to benefit the village.

After her home was sold off, some of the money was used to pay for a variety of environmental improvements in the area, as well as a separate plot of derelict land that was overhauled and transformed into a village green next to another historic property, Bella Vista House.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But the trust has decided it now wants to dispose of the garden after a dispute with local people over how it should be run in future. The move has angered residents, who will have pay "market value" to buy the garden.

The trust has said it does not intend to hand over 600,000 in funds which it still holds from Ms McNiven's estate.

Duddingston, home to Scotland's oldest pub, the Sheep Heid, lies at the foot of Arthur's Seat and dates back to the 12th century.

Ms McNiven was a former secretary of the local conservation society and left all of her money to the NTS after outliving her close relatives.

Her will, received by the trust in 1979, stated: "It is my express desire that if possible, either by retention of my said dwelling house or by some other means, that the said National Trust for Scotland should associate themselves with the village of Duddingston and its history."

After her home was sold off and some of the money used to fund environmental improvements, NTS drew up plans to buy up a three-quarters of an acre plot of land next to Bella Vista House, after the Duddingston Village Conservation Society launched a campaign to curb future development.

Although NTS had agreed to lease out the land, including an old paddock, tennis court and allotment site, to the group, it has decided to put it up for sale after ruling it is of "no heritage, cultural or archaeological value".

It has agreed to give the residents' society first option on the site, and restrict its future use as a community garden. However, the NTS, which has ordered a review of how its hundreds of sites are being run across the country, has been accused of "oppressive bureaucracy", "arrogant administration", and "neglect" over its handling of the bequest.It claims the trust has only agreed to a potential sale after a hostile reaction to proposals to develop part of the site.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

NTS last night revealed it had taken legal advice over Ms McNiven's will and insisted she never intended her estate to be restricted for the "exclusive use" of the village.

Pete Selman, head of properties, said: "Duddingston is rightly regarded as one of Scotland's most important historic villages and the trust has been glad to have invested so much over the years in its conservation and enhancement.

"However, by no stretch of the imagination can this portion of land within the village be regarded as anything more than a local amenity.

"It is not tenable that it competes for resources that are urgently needed for properties of national importance."

Malcolm Windsor, chairman of the conservation society, said: "We are happy for the land to be passed into community ownership, but amazed that we are expected to purchase it at market rate when it was bought at our behest for the benefit of the community in the first place by a restricted bequest. It is clear to all who read that it was given for the benefit of Duddingston village and its history."

The row has emerged days after NTS revealed it had been left 3.5 million, one of its largest-ever bequests, by a wealthy lawyer and farmer from Aberdeenshire who made his fortune in South Africa.