Vagrants ruin beauty spot

The garden was part of a farm called Kennersley, which was owned by former wool board president and plant enthusiast Leonard Bagshawe-Smith. When he donated it to the municipality in 1969 he stipulated that the land be used as an open public botanical garden and a senior citizens’ home.

In 2004, his grandson Quentin Bagshawe-Smith instituted a high court action against the municipality, claiming that the condition of the donation agreement had been breached because the park’s aloe collection had “totally disappeared” and a collection of cycads had “virtually disappeared”. A settlement was reached out of court with the payment of compensation.

BCM did not respond to questions at the time of writing. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za

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