Defiant pensioner REFUSING to leave home he's lived in for 45 years

2023-04-07

Britain’s real-life Disney movie ‘UP’: The defiant pensioner refusing to leave his home of 45 years despite £300M industrial estate being built around him

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Ambler refusing to leave home of 45 years despite industrial estate being built around him
77-year-old’s stance is similar to Disney Pixar classic ‘Up’ inspired by Seattle pensioner Edith Macefield

A defiant pensioner is refusing to bow to developers and leave the home he has lived in for 45 years – despite an enormous industrial estate being built around him.

Peter Ambler, 77, says the 155-acre SmartParc development in Spondon, Derby, is ‘ruining his life’.

But he claims he won’t be forced out even though he is the last resident left on his road – which has now been blocked off by building works for the £300m project.

Mr Ambler’s plight echoes that of Seattle-based pensioner Edith Macefield, whose famous stand against the march of change inspired the Disney Pixar movie ‘Up’.

Defiant Peter Ambler, 77, (pictured) says the 155-acre SmartParc development in Spondon, Derby, is ‘ruining his life’

A pensioner is refusing to leave the home he has lived in for 45 years – despite an enormous industrial estate being built around him

Her refusal to sell her 1,000 square foot home where she had lived for 60 years became a symbol of standing up to corporate giants after developers were forced to awkwardly build around it. She rejected a $1million offer to move to a nursing home.

Ms Macefield passed away from pancreatic cancer in June 2008 at the age of 86, leaving the house boarded up and empty. The house was sold in 2015, but remains a tourist attraction in the west coast city of America.

Mr Ambler, who suffers from mobility issues and requires a walking frame to get about, struggles to receive deliveries and his bins weren’t collected for eight weeks as a result of the construction.

Edith Macefield’s 1,000 square foot home in Seattle was nicknamed the ‘Holdout House’ after her refusal to accept a $1million offer from corporate developers to move to a nursing home. Her stance inspired the blockbuster Disney Pixar movie ‘Up’.

Edith Macefield died at the age of 86 after refusing to sell her tiny house in Seattle, forcing developers to construct around her property.

Holdout house: Edith’s tiny property remains a tourist attraction to this day in the US west coast city

Contractors arriving for work late at night also keep him awake, while his daytimes are constantly disturbed by dust and the sounds of diggers, cement mixers and jackhammers.

However, Peter, who lives alone in the three-bed semi, said: ‘I’m going absolutely nowhere. I bought this house to live in peace – not to be messed about.

‘I have had peace for years, until now. I don’t want all this hassle. All I want is what I am entitled to – a bit of respect, access in and out, and some quiet.’

SmartParc is a huge campus-style food production and distribution hub that is expected to be a massive economic boost to Derby when it is completed and fully occupied, with up to 4,500 jobs being created. It’s being built on the site of the former Celanese chemical plant, which was demolished in 2017.

Contractors arriving for work late at night also keep him awake, while his daytimes are constantly disturbed by dust and the sounds of diggers, cement mixers and jackhammers

Peter’s road – Holme Lane – once contained four houses. But two of the houses were demolished a number of years ago, and the house next door to Peter’s has been unoccupied for fifteen years since the previous owner died

Former tyre business owner Peter said he lives a ‘simple life’, feeding the birds which flock to his garden, and well as owls, foxes, badgers and wild cats in a field behind his home

Former tyre business owner Peter said he lives a ‘simple life’, feeding the birds which flock to his garden, and well as owls, foxes, badgers and wild cats in a field behind his home. He also keeps goats.

But he now believes the developers are trying to force him out.

He said: ‘Celenase was five square miles, and I had no trouble at all with that.

The 77-year-old former tyre business owner said he now believes the developers are trying to force him out

He said: ‘They want me gone. They’ve put a gatehouse for one of the big food units directly opposite my house. It looks straight into my bedroom’

He added: ‘I have got everything I want here. I am content. You can’t put a price on that. I have a lot of happy memories here’

‘It’s very difficult for me to get out now. The security guards have to move the barriers. And I don’t get Amazon deliveries because there is a ”road closed, no access” sign at the top of the road, so drivers see that and just turn around and leave’

‘But now they want me gone. They’ve put a gatehouse for one of the big food units directly opposite my house. It looks straight into my bedroom.

‘And they’ve offered me money – about £60,000 – to move, but I don’t want it. Money’s no good. It doesn’t buy happiness. And you can barely buy a toilet for that nowadays.

‘I have got everything I want here. I am content. You can’t put a price on that. I have a lot of happy memories here.

‘But it’s very difficult for me to get out now. The security guards have to move the barriers. And I don’t get Amazon deliveries because there is a ”road closed, no access” sign at the top of the road, so drivers see that and just turn around and leave.’

He said: ‘They’ve offered me money – about £60,000 – to move, but I don’t want it. Money’s no good. It doesn’t buy happiness’

Peter, who suffers from chronic pain in his neck and below the waist, added: ‘At night they actually bolt the barriers’

He said: ‘The ambulance couldn’t get through because they had bolted the gates. I could have died if I had had a heart attack’

Peter, who suffers from chronic pain in his neck and below the waist, added: ‘At night they actually bolt the barriers. I fell the other night in the house because I have had heart trouble and my legs go.

‘I was on the phone to my mate at the time and I dropped it and couldn’t reach it. He could hear I was in trouble so phoned 101. The ambulance couldn’t get through because they had bolted the gates. I could have died if I had had a heart attack.

‘And the dust and noise is terrible. It is totally wrong.’

Peter’s mother lived in the home with him before she passed away, and her ashes are scattered in the garden. Peter said he hoped his would be too one day, adding: ‘This place is my whole life.’

Peter’s mother lived in the home with him before she passed away, and her ashes are scattered in the garden. Peter said he hoped his would be too one day

SmartParc’s construction began around 18 months ago, in September 2021

A spokesperson said: ‘SmartParc SEGRO Derby is a major brownfield regeneration scheme that will not only provide jobs and support local economic growth, it will be a game changer for sustainable food production and distribution’

They added: ‘We understand that during the construction phase of this project there may be some disruption, but we are working hard to keep this to an absolute minimum’

SmartParc’s construction began around 18 months ago, in September 2021.

‘We understand that during the construction phase of this project there may be some disruption, but we are working hard to keep this to an absolute minimum.

‘From the start of the project we have provided regular updates to all local residents informing them of the work taking place, potential disruption and measures we have put in place to minimise the impact on our neighbours. On the occasion that one of the residents has raised a concern, this has been escalated to the most senior person on site for resolution.’

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