The sold sign is up, and the dream is over. When Chinty Turnbull announced she intended to Buy Back Keswick, Brick By Brick, the response was extraordinary.
The plan was to crowdfund the purchase of a building on St John’s Street where she leased a café. By doing so, the 55-year-old mum hoped to start a movement which would save her home town from the second home developers.
Not only did hundreds of people rally round to contribute towards her ambitious £850,000 target, but Chinty became an overnight media sensation. And, for a brief moment, it seemed that the impossible might just become a reality.
That all ended last Friday when the dreaded ‘sold’ sign appeared on the side of the building – a stark reminder, if one was needed, that good intentions will always be trumped by cold-blooded business.
Estate agent PFK would not say who has bought the building, or whether its four first-floor flats will become holiday lets. But it doesn’t really matter.
Certainly not to Chinty, whose immediate concern now is returning nearly £100,000 to all those who pitched in.
“The first I knew about it was when the estate agent turned up last week and hammered in a ‘sold’ sign,” she said.
“I’m obviously very disappointed, but my lease runs for another three years and I have to hope that the new owners – whoever they are – will respect the leases of the tenants upstairs.
