There was some land in southwest England, alongside a main road. It comprised a number of farm buildings that had burnt down ten years previously.
The land and buildings were owned by a trust and were not rebuilt because of arguments between the trust, the tenant – who saw an opportunity to obtain substantial compensation – and the Council. Therefore planning had lapsed on the buildings and the former listed buildings were greatly deteriorating. The Council required their repair and restoration, which, in itself was not viable. Woolley was brought in to sort out the deadlock:
The planning situation was carefully analysed. From this, it was evident that any planning application would cost too much money and time for the trust and furthermore, the outcome was too uncertain, because of previous delays and lack of effective action.
After complex negotiations, the tenant was compensated to give up such rights as he had and the whole property was successfully sold, all much to the relief of the client trust.