Campaigners march on Dartington Estate

More than 100 campaigners marched across the historic Dartington estate in Devon demanding greater transparency from those in charge.

Those who took part included Dartington tenants, former staff and Schumacher students.

They cited zero-hour contracts and postponement of Masters courses among their gripes.

Robert Fedder, Dartington Trust interim CEO, said the focus had been on financial recovery but they would now engage more with stakeholders.

In an open letter prior to the march, Mr Fedder said there had been "misinformation about the state of affairs at Dartington Hall".

The "turnaround team", led by himself and trust chair Lord Triesman, were focused on rescuing the estate from "financial disaster", he added.

They aimed to "develop a strategy for a sustainable recovery so that all stakeholders benefit from a prosperous Dartington for many generations to come," he added.

"The present team aims to treat all staff as fairly and generously as possible."

Prior to the march, organisers said the trust had a "long history of being secretive and unaccountable to the local community".

They said this had "escalated" in recent months, with zero-hour contracts for staff, postponement of masters courses at Schumacher College and rent increases for local businesses.

Campaigner Bex Trevalyan said: "The concern shared by a lot of people is that all the things we love and treasure about Dartington are stripped away.

"The places to gather, the places to make art, to run local businesses, to do regenerative agriculture, all the good bits that are helping us tackle the crises we have, climate and nature and cost of living, are being taken away.

"Because rents are being hiked, staff are being fired.

"There are a small group of business-minded people controlling a huge community asset."

Fellow campaigner Clare Coyne said dialogue had been "diminished", adding: "What Dartington ideally means is beauty, creativity, potential, inspiration and community.

"Sadly I feel like those possibilities are becoming increasingly eroded by the changes we are experiencing here and it doesn't feel good."

The campaign group said drafted proposals for the trust's future had "little community consultation".

Expressing "deep concern" for the future of the estate, they called for "transparency and accountability" to staff, tenants, students and the community.

Meanwhile, Mr Fedder said "preserving the pillars of heritage, culture, education and innovation in sustainability" were at the forefront of their strategy.

He said "inescapable facts" included a need "not to make a continual loss" or "everything of value" would be lost.

He said all activities of the hall and estate were "ultimately commercial businesses" and therefore "not in any official sense accountable in terms of governance, transparency or strategy" to the local community.

Businesses would pay "fair, if not favourable, rents", he added, including those which had "inexplicably paid no rent" previously.

He said having tackled "urgent financial challenges" there would now be "more bandwidth" for engagement with stakeholders.

There were no plans to move the Dartington International Summer School and festival to Norfolk and a review of its "entire operations" was ongoing, he added.

The Dartington International Summer School Foundation, an independent charity, has said the Music Summer School and Festival would be held in Norfolk in the future.

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