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5 months ago
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A prestigious sailing club which has navigated the same lake for more than 50 years claims it is being forced out amid a bitter legal battle with a wealthy landlord.
Weir Wood Sailing Club, which is located near the forest which inspired Winnie the Pooh's 'Hundred Acre Wood', has offered yachting and windsurfing since 1966.
But it has been hit by a number of charges from their new landlord who claims the historic club is in breach of its lease.
The club has been accused of placing yachts and two memorial benches to members on land not covered by their agreed terms.
And members were also alleged to have neglected the correct social distancing measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But organisers say the new landlord has 'cooked up' the breaches in an attempt to force them out to make way for his own rival sailing club.
The club says it is being dragged into court over the claims and forced to pay for costly legal advice.
Weir Wood reservoir in Forest Row, East Sussex, where a sailing club based there faces a legal battle with their landlord
The club has offered yachting and windsurfing on the same stretch of water since 1966
Weir Wood Sailing Club (pictured) has launched a fundraiser to try and raise money to cover legal costs
Weir Wood Sailing Club (WWSC), near East Grinstead in East Sussex, agreed a new 50-year lease with the previous landlord in 2015.
But new landlord Weald Water Enterprises (WWE), run by businessman Alan Catterall, bought out the former one in 2021.
Mr Catterall launched his own water sports club, Weir Wood Leisure and Sports Ltd - in 2022, offering paddle-boarding, rowing and fishing - while its website says: 'Sailing - Coming Soon.'
Weir Wood Sailing Club believes the landlord wants to force them out and seize their clubhouse for his own enterprise.
A club spokesperson said: 'Two years ago the reservoir was taken over by a new landlord.
'The landlord has made it very clear that Weir Wood Sailing Club is not part of the development plans for the site, despite us having over 45 years left on our lease.
The sailing club agreed a new 50-year lease with the previous landlord in 2015
Club members believe the new landlord wants to force them out and seize their clubhouse for his own enterprise
People are pictured sailing on picturesque Weir Wood reservoir in Forest Row, East Sussex
'Over the last 18 months we have been subjected to an intimidatingly large number of legal and quasi-legal attacks from the landlord using a very experienced - and expensive - firm of lawyers which we have had to use our limited resources to fend off.
'We have now reached the stage where we face cases in the county court, including for tiny alleged breaches of our lease terms which, if we were to lose, would mean that the club would forfeit its lease, cease to exist and the trustees and committee could face financial jeopardy for seeking to defend its existence.'
A club source said: 'Mr Catterall is making a whole load of claims against us.
'This club has been running for six decades providing boating, facilities and training to all - especially children who love it. I think it's shocking what is being done.
The club has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund challenges against the legal claims made by the landlord.
The club says over the last 18 months it has been subjected to a large number of 'legal attacks' from the landlord
The club has been accused of placing yachts and two memorial benches to members on land not covered by their lease
Members have also been accused of breaching Covid social distancing regulations
A spokesman said: 'We cannot allow an individual with the financial resources to bring down the curtain on a sailing club with 50 years of sailing history and thousands of people's quiet enjoyment of the facility.
Members say the claims made by the landlord are 'unfounded' and threaten 'to evict us from our longstanding and rightful use of the site'.
They say that if the landlord, WWE, is successful then it would bring an end to half a century of of water sports on one of the largest beautiful inland waterways south of London.
The club was founded in 1966 as a winter-only club with a clubhouse built on the bank of the waterway three years later, before becoming an all-year club in 1981.
Run by a team of volunteers, it is a registered Royal Yachting Association Training Centre and runs sailing courses from beginners to advanced and for both children and adults.
The club says that if the landlord, WWE, is successful then it would bring an end to half a century of water sports at the site
The club was founded in 1966 as a winter-only club, had a clubhouse built on the bank of the waterway in 1969 and became an all-year club in 1981
Weald Water Enterprises Ltd is a UK-registered company whose sole asset is the leasehold interest in the exclusive leisure rights on Weir Wood Reservoir.
Weir Wood Sailing Club pays an annual rent of around £35,000, while the company also lets the fishing rights which includes the Fishing Lodge and rights to additional sailing, canoeing and other rights, producing more than £25,000.
Mr Catterall, director of Weald Water Enterprises, said the sailing club was in breach of its lease and as a result the lease could now be forfeited.
He said: 'I want to rationalise the site and develop it by building a new clubhouse and the sailing club is in agreement with that.
'However, they have already admitted a breach of trespass by storing their boats on land not agreed under their lease.
'That matter has been resolved but it is the other two breaches I am concerned with which I won't go into.'
He said his formation of a new company was not an attempt to set up his own club and did not conflict with the sailing activities of the present club.
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