Caroline Voaden steps into Dartington Forest Garden Row

Totnes MP Caroline Voaden has written officially to Robert Fedder of Dartington Trust regarding the unexpected termination of a lease to Agroforestry Research Trust (ART) to continue to host a Forest Garden after more than 30 years.

In a Facebook post Caroline stated “The garden is 31 years old, world famous, and a jewel in the ecological crown at Dartington, drawing 50,000 visitors to the estate. So, why are they pushing for eviction?“

Ecological vandalism

In the letter she expressed deep concern about the decision to give one years’ notice and states “It’s not possible to move elsewhere as it is a priceless ecosystem…“

The tone of the letter also implies some dissatisfaction with the current stewardship of Dartington: “I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt about yout turnaround of DHT, despite troubling reports of how tenentas and staff have been communicated with.  However this does feel like the last straw.“

The Totnes Pulse has recieved an official statement from Dartington Trust indicating that after a period of time they have now communicated with Martin Crawford of ART and that an ‘uncontrolled heated debate” has ensued with “misinformation” within the community. The Pulse has been provided seperately with images of the forest with an implication of neglect.

The Pulse will have a full report on this later this week.

Martin Crawford has accused the Dartington Trustees of “Ecological vandalism” in a blog post stating “We’ve put in decades of work to achieve this exemplar of a food forest system. This seems like a complete betrayal of trust by the DHT, who are only looking at money – they have given us no reasons but think they can get more money by flattening and building there or using it for something else instead of the rent we pay.” They have also put up a petition for support that has garnered well over 15,000 signatures.

The full letter is reproduced below…