The National Trust would not have purchased a Lake District farm land and farmhouse if they had their chance again, with its director general Dame Helen Ghosh saying it was 'not our problem' if second-home owners move in.
Thorneythwaite Farm was put on the market in two parts, one part was the land which contained a rare breed of sheep and the other was the farmhouse. The National Trust purchased the land with broadcaster Melvyn Bragg accusing the trust of bullying.
But Dame Helen Ghosh told the Observer that the trust would not have bought the land if she had the time again, saying: "It would have been an easy way to avoid criticism, and we would have had a quieter life, but it wouldn’t have enabled us to highlight the debate about how you can support sustainable farming in terms of the income, and the threat of subsidies disappearing with Brexit. We’re clear that our role must be to support adaptation. Conservation is about managing a process of change."
Critics objected to the separation of the land from the farmhouse and its consequences for the Herdwick sheep, a rare breed.
Lord Bragg said it was a 'disgraceful purchase' and a 'nasty piece of work', adding that its opening bid of £200,000 above the initial £750,000 guide price put off other potential buyers in a move 'straight out of the Mafia.'
'Never to be forgiven'
In a letter to The Times, Lord Bragg said: "had a billionaire bullied his way into this disgraceful purchase there would have been a deserved outcry. If the increasingly arrogant National Trust is there to protect anything of our past surely this is a prime example. The National Trust is about to destroy what centuries of working men and women have created. It used a shameful manoeuvre to achieve its aim. Who can check this bullying charity?"
Dame Ghosh told the Observer that she believes the house has been bought by a family, but when asked if they could be second-home owners, she replied: "Not our problem!"
At the time of the purchase, the trust said it was the best way to secure the landscape's future. A spokesman for the charity said: "We believe we can look after this land in a way that benefits nature, visitors and the local community. We understand some people believe we should also have bought the farm house and continued to manage the land in the same way. However, given our limited funds, we believe that this was the right approach. Managing the land is the best way for us to secure the long term future health of this special landscape, given our available resources."
Peter Edmondson, who farms nearby and told the paper he too had hopes to buy the land and the farmhouse together, said: "I don't mind being outbid, but an outrages bid like that was unacceptable, and never to be forgiven in my lifetime."
