A “cartel of elderly women” have been accused of carrying out mass evictions of beach hut tenants as a seafront chalet row engulfs a beautiful British seaside town.
Nearly half of the occupants in beach huts at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth, Dorset, have been forced to leave.
The evictions sparked anger after it was revealed that the three female directors of the chalet-owning Greenhill Community Trust had all retained their own tenancies.
Janet Cridland, 81, Janis Chalker, 76, and Sandy Tubby, 63, have refused to renew the leases of nine tenants for not residing within Weymouth and 10 others for alleged breaches of their licence agreements.
Nearly half of the residents living in seafront chalets at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth, Dorset, have been forced to leave
WEYMOUTH TOWN COUNCIL
The evicted tenants argue that the licence breaches were caused by tradesmen hired by the directors, who left power sockets on, therefore violating "electricity rules."
A dozen tenants have now come together to raise “serious concerns” about the trust.
In a statement, they wrote: “The lack of transparency, failure to follow proper protocol, and refusal to communicate, investigate the circumstances surrounding the ‘alleged’ breaches has continued to raise serious concerns about the trust’s governance and fairness.”
They also accused the trust of “encouraging” them to invest their own money on renovations while planning the evictions.
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“This amounts to financial exploitation, as they benefited from the improvements while planning a large number of evictions,” the statement said.
Melcombe Regis Councillor Jon Orrel said he was “unhappy” with how the situation had been handled.
“The CIC have day-to-day oversight on the running of the chalets, with no provision for either Dorset council and Weymouth town council to intervene and I’ve checked that legally,” Orrel added.
This is not the first time evictions have caused controversy.
In November last year, David White, 75, and his partner Elaine Jepson, 68, were informed they would have to leave the hut they had leased for 27 years.
White said: “It is madness but you can’t talk to them [the directors] and the power has gone to their heads. They are acting like a cartel.”
In 2022, six tenants who had rented chalets for as long as 50 years were evicted.
The Greenhill Community Trust assumed control of the chalets from Weymouth Town Council in 2019.
In November of last year, David White, 75, and his partner Elaine Jepson, 68, were informed they would have to leave the hut they had leased for 27 years
GETTY
The directors - who do not receive payment for their roles - have denied the allegations made by the evicted tenants.
They argued that their actions were justified due to the tenants not residing locally or violating their licence agreements.
In a statement, they said: “We refute the claims that have been made. We have not renewed nine licences due the licensees not living in the Weymouth area, and 10 other licences were not renewed as the licensees breached their signed licence agreement.”
“We have received one official complaint, which we have responded to in line with our complaints policy.”
The trio added: “We are aware that complaints were made regarding Greenhill Community Trust CIC to Companies House, and it has been confirmed this week, that Companies House will not be taking any action.”
