Chiltern Open Air Museum ‘under threat’ over legal dispute with developer

Chiltern Open Air Museum (Coam) in Buckinghamshire says it is under threat following a dispute with Comer Homes, the property developer that owns the land on which the museum is located.

Established as an independent charity in 1981, the museum cares for more than 30 rescued and reconstructed historic buildings and tells the history of the Chilterns.

Comer Homes acquired the 18^th-century estate, Newland Park, in 2011 and received planning permission to build luxury homes there on the condition that it would transfer the freehold to the museum for £1. This transfer has not yet taken place and Comer Homes now claims that the museum’s commercial operations, which include weddings, parties and filming, are in breach of its lease and risk causing disruption to residents who are shortly due to move onto the estate.

According to reports, a legal firm representing the property developer wrote on 30 September threatening action over plans for filming on the site in October. The group subsequently blocked access to a field used by the museum as an overflow car park.

The museum says commercial operations are essential to its business model. It announced last week that it would have to cancel its profitable Halloween Spectacular as a result of the dispute.

In a statement, the museum said: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce the cancellation of our Halloween Spectacular. Despite many years of us holding special events at Coam, the development company who own the freehold to our site have now decided that activities like our Halloween Spectacular and filming on site are in breach of our leasehold. They have also blocked the access to the field we have used for our overflow parking.

“We have been told that we can go ahead with our Halloween Spectacular as a ‘one off’ but unfortunately without access to the overflow parking we do not have anywhere for all of the pre-booked ticket holders to park.”

The statement continued: “We save and reconstruct historic buildings that are under threat due to development and now we too find ourselves under threat.”

A campaign group, Save Chiltern Open Air Museum (Scoam), has been formed to protect the future of the museum. The group is calling on Comer Homes to honour the agreement to hand over the freehold.  

In a statement, Comer Homes said it strongly rebutted claims that it had sought to cancel the Halloween event or jeopardise the future of the museum.

It said: “Comer Homes values this fantastic community asset and has repeatedly tried to work with the Coam board to ensure they can operate and thrive within the terms of their current lease agreement.”

The statement continued: “There have been repeated breaches of the current lease agreement, with one such issue including loud music playing until the early hours. This is a situation we must resolve with Coam ahead of the first residents moving into Newland Park to ensure their peace and privacy is not disrupted.”

Comer Homes said it is committed to transfer the freehold to Coam but that this is a “complicated process and one that requires open and appropriate dialogue between the two parties”.

It continued: "Our position on this matter is to protect the £300m investment that we have already and are about to put into the site and local community, whilst also aiding and supporting a community asset that we value highly and wish to retain as a neighbour for many years to come."

A spokesman for Comer Homes said the group “remain in open dialect with Coam, as they have the entire time”.

A meeting is due to take place this week between the two parties and local councillors. “It is hoped a resolution can be found that benefits all parties,” said the spokesman.