A heartbroken gran has been left in tears after council bosses destroyed her award-winning retirement home garden display due to it being a 'health and safety hazard'. Devastated Gillian Davies, 86 said 'I have lost it all' as she watched workers dismantle her garden that she spent 17 years working on and which cost her hundreds of pounds in the process.
The retired land worker began transforming the outdoor space with a friend when she moved into Emlyn's Gardens in Stamford, Lincolnshire in 2006. The OAP revamped the garden for residents to enjoy by adding plants, ornaments and furniture and even won an award for her creation, the Mirror reports.
However, the gran-of-28 was taken aback when South Kesteven District Council informed her she didn't have authorisation to do any gardening and it would have to be demolished. All of her beloved work was destroyed on February 24 when council workers got to work on her lawn and smashed her shed to pieces with lump hammers.
Her potted plants were all dug up and dumped in a pile in the garden and the wooden trellis she had put up was yanked down. Gillian said: “They used a big hammer to smash my shed and plastic container, and started taking all my ornaments.
“I have lost it all.” Her furious son Stephen, 60, a caravan maintenance technician, said: "She hasn’t got long left. That’s all she has. She loved that garden.
“She used to do it with her friend until her friend passed away. She's done it for 17 years. She also won an award for the garden.
"What they’ve done now is a joke. I can’t see anyone going out there and using it at the moment. It's the way they smashed it all up, they used a big lump hammer that they smashed the shed up with.
“She was a big gardener but because she’s 86 she can get about much now. She knew it wasn't just her garden, it was for everyone to use.
“She was saying to me ‘I've had enough of life'. How could they do this to an elderly and disabled woman.
“They are saying it was a fire hazard and they’d fall over the rocks in the garden. But there's paths here. They smashed all her trellis up, her plastic box up.
"They pulled all her plants up and dumped them. The lady next door was saying she wished she'd never moved in now.”
Another resident Jillian Murcott, 83, who moved into the council-owned retirement complex recently, said: “It is called Emlyn’s Gardens but where are the gardens? I was in one house since 1978.
"I have come here and in one week I have seen more upheaval and destruction."
Robert Reid, the council's cabinet member for housing and property, insisted the plants were blocking a fire exit and they were removed for safety purposes. He said: “Communal spaces are there for all tenants to enjoy but are owned by the council, which ensures they are safe and well-maintained.
"The communal space at Emlyn’s Gardens provides an exit route in the event of a fire and therefore it is vital it is always clear. The council met the tenant to explain the situation and they were also notified by letter of the need to clear personal items and remove the shed, but failed to do so.
“Following their removal by the council, some of the items are now in the possession of a family member and others remain at Emlyn’s Gardens awaiting collection. Work has now started to restore the garden, providing a safe area that all tenants can use and benefit from.”
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