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Naturalist who wanted to rewild family farm loses 15 year legal battle with his brother, as judge rules he cannot prevent sale

David Martin, pictured, wanted to keep the farm as a wildlife haven  - Champion News
David Martin, pictured, wanted to keep the farm as a wildlife haven - Champion News

A naturalist who wanted to rewild the family farm has lost a 15-year legal battle with his brother after a judge ruled he cannot prevent the sale.

David Martin, 70,  said that because his family have farmed the land around Car Colston, Nottinghamshire, for 300 years,  that he and his brother, John, 59, should preserve some of the 62-acre site as a wildlife sanctuary.

His brother, a retired postman, said he wished to sell most of it to local tycoon and racehorse breeder Nick Forman-Hardy, who has offered to pay £845,000, which is around three times its market value.

He argues that he needs his share of the money in order to provide for his young daughters after having to take an early retirement due to illness.

The two brothers inherited their land from their father, a farmer, after he died in 1990, and they sold the family farmhouse and 32 acres of the land to Mr Forman-Hardy two years later.

Mr Martin had already rewilded some of the remaining land, providing a refuge for bats, grass snakes, and Skipper and Brimstone butterflies.

He said he was concerned that the land might not be conserved if sold to Mr Forman-Hardy and "believed he would use the land to rear birds for shooting and it would disrupt wild birds," Judge Shuman said.

During the court hearing, John's barrister, Daniel Burton, said he understood Mr Forman-Hardy "may wish to run shoots from the land," although this was not confirmed and in any case would not change the character of the fields.

Judge Shuman said she had heard no evidence about Mr Forman-Hardy's precise plans for the land but added: "he clearly has a special interest in purchasing the land surrounding his own land and house and is willing to pay more than the market value for it".

John Martin argued that his brother could use his share of the money to create a new wildlife sanctuary close by.

Judge Shuman told the court: "What relationship they had has utterly broken down... by 2006 the brothers were unable to speak to each other about any aspect of their co-ownership of the land."

Ruling that the bulk of the land should be sold, the judge said there was no intention on the part of the Martin family at the time the brothers inherited the land that it should be kept in the family or preserved as a wildlife haven.

Giving her judgment, she told the court: "The land...includes arable land pasture and woodland. It has been in the Martin family for generations.

"None of the parcels of land have been designated as sites of special scientific interest (but) that does not mean that the wildlife habitats and biodiversity found there are not important.

"This is however a claim about land subject to an express trust. David has not referred me to any documents where Dennis or even his grandfather described a desire by the Martin family to preserve the land for future generations and specifically for conservation."

Judge Shuman made an order in line with John's request, directing that the five parcels of land be sold to Mr Forman-Hardy for £845,000. The remaining two parcels of land, totaling just over five acres, will be split between John and David, she decided.

Mr Forman-Hardy was not a party in the case.