Scotland: Hutters face eviction at Barry Downs

[MarkiB]

Court to hear action to remove tenants of chalets at Angus holiday park 
‘Hutters’ face eviction at Barry Downs, Carnoustie, NE Scotland 
By Mike Farrell
Published: 18/03/2010
Ref: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1651035?UserKey=


More than 30 people face being evicted from an Angus holiday park (as of
20/03/2010, they have not been evicted yet - see 2nd more recent article
below this one).

A three-year row over the huts at Barry Downs, near Carnoustie will be
settled at Arbroath Sheriff Court.
The owner of the caravan site – Shoreline Management – has launched a
civil action to remove its tenants.
The chalets were created as holiday homes for World War I veterans, and
have been in use ever since.
The current users – known as “hutters” – are a mix of disabled
people, pensioners and young families with children.

One of the holidaymakers said last night that she was resigned to a way of
life being “destroyed”. Pauline Rowling, 67, and her husband James, 60,
of Sandman Street, Glasgow, have been using their holiday home on the site
for 20 years.

Mrs Rowling said that at one time she would spend almost every weekend at
her hut. She added: “It is really very sad and is quite devastating to be
honest.
“We expect that on Friday, Shoreline Management will get its way and the
huts will be torn down. A way of life is really being destroyed here, as
there was a real community feel to the Barry huts which is a rare thing
now.

“It was a cheap holiday for families living in the city, but it provided
more than that and gave a lot of kids from urban areas the chance to
experience something different in the country.”

Mrs Rowling added: “Since Shoreline Management bought the site we have
fought tooth and nail to keep the huts, but it has really been slowly dying
with less and less people coming back to holiday there.”
Shoreline took over the site in 2007 and raised the rents on the
properties, before ordering the hutters to carry out extensive repairs to
meet health-and-safety rules.

The holidaymakers were told they faced being evicted if they did not carry
out the maintenance work. One hut owner, William Wright, raised a court
action against the holiday company in 2008, claiming that the hutters had a
historic right to live there and repairs were Shoreline’s responsibility.
This was eventually rejected by the court, and tomorrow 34 other hutters
are set to be evicted.

Shoreline declined to comment yesterday, but said it expected the hutters
would be forced to leave the site by the end of April.
**************************************************************

‘Hutters’ could face large bills
Carnoustie tenants at Barry Downs may have to pay legal costs
By Mike Farrell
Published: 20/03/2010
Ref: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1654436?UserKey=

Holiday hut tenants faced with eviction are also likely to be left with
large legal bills.
A handful of people who have leased the small shacks at Barry Downs near
Carnoustie are still fighting moves by owner Shoreline Management to remove
them.
Altogether 15 “hutters” have agreed to vacate the properties by the end
of next month – and negotiate privately about how much they have to pay
the company in legal costs.
Another six holidaymakers are objecting to the eviction move. And they are
waiting to see the result of a test case involving one hutter, Angus
Campbell, whose legal battle to stay on the site will continue at Arbroath
Sheriff Court on Monday.
They are hoping he will win, and that precedent will be set.
Shoreline Management owns the Barry Downs Holiday Park, and the land
adjacent to it where the huts were built more than 90 years ago as holiday
homes for World War I veterans.
James Rowling, of Sandbank Street, Glasgow, is one of the hutters
continuing to contest the eviction action.
The 60-year-old said: “I know that Shoreline Management has all but won
and we will be evicted. But I felt I had to take a stand on this. I’m not
going to be happy if I get landed with the company’s legal bill as well.
“Everywhere we’ve turned we haven’t been given any help.”
Shoreline took over the site in 2007 and raised the rents on the
properties, before ordering the hutters to carry out extensive repairs to
meet health-and-safety rules.
The holidaymakers were told they faced being evicted if they did not carry
out the maintenance work.
One hutter, William Wright, raised a court action against the holiday
company in 2008, claiming the holidaymakers had a historic right to live
there and repairs were Shoreline’s responsibility. 
This was rejected by the courts. The users are a mix of disabled people,
pensioners and young families with children. They claim a way of life will
be destroyed if they are forced off the site.