After the formal business, we had a most interesting talk from Julie Ozwell, a director of Woodhill Properties Ltd. and daughter of Herbert Collins. Woodhill Properties is a small company whose shareholders are the descendants of the Collins family. Herbert regarded the houses as his creation and on Saturday mornings would drive round the estates. If he saw something that was not quite right, he would knock on doors. Herbert was a man of wide interests. He played the cello and held musical evenings. For holidays, they always went places with the best views for his sketching. For over 20 years, he was the local honorary secretary of the United Nations Association.
She defended selling properties leasehold as this provided protection to leaseholders. What would happen when Woodhill Properties faded away because the ground rents were not worth collecting? In the case of the Uplands Estate and Glebe Court, the freeholds have been transferred to trustees appointed by the residents associations.