A Nottinghamshire therapy farm has been left with nowhere to go after being served notice to leave, its heartbroken owner has said. Ceri Goss, who runs Plant Magic at Screveton near Bingham, said her business has effectively been "forced out" of its field five years since being set up.
The 47-year-old former special needs teacher, who helps provide to therapeutic workshops to those with learning difficulties, said she and her husband Steve had been put in an "absolutely horrific" position. "This was supposed to be my retirement plan," she told Nottinghamshire Live. "I can't begin to tell you, it's killing us both."
The couple set up the farm in 2017, building it "from scratch" after renting an area of land from farmer David Rose. However, the farmer has given them until September to leave the field after a breakdown in negotiations.
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Mr Rose offered Mrs Goss the chance to join his group but this would have meant handing over control of the facility, it's said. "It was never going to work, ever," said Mrs Goss, who said she would have to pay to rent the the facilities, and that it would also be available for others to hire.
"If they had booked I wouldn't have been able to," she said. "They would be able to use our garden and animals. No way is anybody coming near my animals unless I'm there, absolutely no way. And that's the only proposal he offered us."
Now, Mrs Goss, who lives in Long Eaton, is struggling to find nearby land where she can move her six goats, 10 sheep and 30 hens. She needs four acres of land but says she keeps being outbid as people are "paying up to £60,000 an acre".
"We would love to buy because then no-one can do this to us again," she said. "It would be our space, our business, and we're not going to be governed by anyone else."
Mr Rose said he had been trying to find Mrs Goss more land. And he added the rent he'd been charging "was small" and that he'd supported Mrs Goss through lockdown by not charging her.
'I don't even know how we will tell him'
The therapy farm is currently used by seven post-16 special needs students at Ash Lea School in Cotgrave, as well as 23-year-old Luke Eccleston, who has autism. His mum, Mandy Eccleston, said she was yet to break the news to him about the farm which she said has had a "huge impact" on his quality of life.
"It's given him purpose and developed his self-esteem and confidence," she said. "It's totally in tune with his needs. He looks forward to every Tuesday and Thursday."
Mrs Eccelston, from Elston, explained Luke acted like a "right hand man" to Mrs Goss, helping tend to the goats, chickens and plants. "I don't even know how we will tell him, I can't imagine how we will do it. Without Plant Magic his quality of life wouldn't be as good, he'd miss the animals so much.
"He talks constantly about what he does at the farm, it's hard to find good opportunities like this when you have an autistic son. This is why finding an alternative site for Plant Magic is so important."
Mr Rose said: "Not many people would give the opportunity to a local business to get land and grow. I'm building a hub for places to come together and offer different services. I offered for her to join the group and work more closely but she wanted to go on her own. The rent I was charging was small and we supported her through lockdown by not charging her.
"We were unable to come to an agreement but I've tried to find more land for her. It was always on a rental agreement. We offered to buy her out but the price was set too high. We are very sorry to see her go."
