The Not in My Back Yard brigade got a new pin-up yesterday in the form of 78-year-old Helena Hunt who has scuppered plans of developers in Limavady, Co Derry, by refusing to sell her garden.
NIMBY Ms Hunt was offered £250,000 for her lawn, which backs on to the cattle market Linley Properties hoped to transform into a £5 million shopping and office complex. But taking a stand that will endear her to garden lovers everywhere, Ms Hunt declared she was not giving up the yard for any money.
"This is my home," the former music teacher told reporters yesterday in a burst of what can only be described as pensioner power. "The garden is part of my home, and I love my garden. I love watching the birds nesting there every year and I love watching the wild bees every year in the ivy on my garden wall." It is not as though she has particularly fertile grounds for her objection, grass is the only thing growing in her garden. A "gentleman" comes to cut it for her, she said.
Ms Hunt, who never married, has lived in the house since she was born and said the garden held happy memories that money could not buy. While people may think she was mad to turn down the money, "I'm not too fussed about what people think of me." She was originally offered £40,000 for the land and says she is not against the scheme but doesn't see why her garden, which constitutes 2 per cent of the development area, was needed. However, officials had told the developers they must control the whole site before the development could proceed.
"Some people may say that I am holding up a major development for Limavady but I'm not. All I want is my garden and that should not be too much to ask for. The money does not interest me in the slightest. My garden means more to me than any amount of money," she said.
Indeed, while her decision is backed by local farmers and the town mayor, some people are peeved at Ms Hunt's refusal to cash in on a development which would have meant 150 badly needed jobs for the area. Deputy mayor of Limavady SDLP Councillor Dessie Lowry said the complex would have stopped the "financial haemorrhage" of the town. A recent economic analysis estimated that it loses £15 million a year due to the weekly exodus of shoppers.
The council says it will now reassess the plan. Meanwhile, the pensioner, refreshingly out of step in a world obsessed with lotteries and get-rich-quick schemes, has said she wouldn't part with her lawn even if the sale made her a millionaire. And that, to the chagrin of developers, is her final answer.
