The Star: August 11, 2016

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Thursday August 11 2016 15
News
Inheritance hunt successful
• By Gabrielle Stuart
A SERIES of mistakes and
coincidences meant 61-year-old
gardener Andrew Scott spent
more than a year completely
unaware he had been left a large
inheritance.
He began working for his
neighbour Doreen Shearer, who
died early last year, when he was
just 13, doing odd jobs and lawn
mowing for pocket money.
That led him into a career as
a professional gardener, and he
continued to work in her garden
for most of his life.
As she grew older and developed
arthritis in her hands he
did more and more for her, feeding
her pet sheep and coming to
her rescue if birds or mice got
into the house.
When she died last year,
without children, she named
him a beneficiary of her estate in
her will.
She had left an address for
Mr Scott in her will, but one of
the numbers was wrong, lawyer
Geoff Falloon said.
“In the end the address was
only one number out, but it was
on the other side of the street.
We went down to Hackthorne
Rd and sat outside the place,
and I even checked land transfer
titles hoping to find his name.”
He had met Mr Scott before
when visiting Mrs Shearer, so he
thought he could recognise him
and make contact at the funeral.
But Mr Scott had to miss the
funeral, because he had a medical
appointment.
It was a year later, when Mr
Falloon had exhausted every
other avenue he could think of
to find him, that he put a small
ad in the paper.
Mr Scott said several of his
friends contacted him about
the advert, so he went in to the
lawyer’s office, dressed in his
work clothes.
He will not know exactly how
much he was left until the house
is sold, but when he was told
roughly how much he could
expect he was left speechless, he
said.
“It took a while to get my head
LIFE’S
WORK:
Andrew
Scott in
the garden
of his
neighbour
Doreen
Shearer,
which he
took care
of for most
of his life.
PHOTO:
GEOFF
SLOAN
around it. I thought I might get
the garden tools or something
like that. I was in shock,” he
said.
He did not plan to let it
change his life much.
He works for himself, and said
he had no desire to stop working
as he enjoyed what he did.
He was considering using
some of the money to pay off his
mortgage, and gifting some to
charity.
Decision
looms on look
of Lyttelton
buildings
• By Bridget Rutherford
LYTTELTON COULD soon
have a panel that will help
oversee what can be built there
and how new buildings will look.
The city council will decide
today whether to approve the establishment
of a Lyttelton Design
Review Panel for an 18-month
trial period.
It comes after residents Brent
and Ann Stanaway tried to build
a new home on the corner of
Sumner Rd and Oxford St in
2012, but had their design rejected
by the city council because
it was not suitable for the heritage
precinct.
The panel would be made
up of four Lyttelton residents,
with some form of urban design
qualification, to help review any
new build resource consent applications.
It would then write a report
on the plans, which would be
reviewed by the city council’s
Urban Design Panel.
The concept is similar to the
Akaroa Design and Appearance
Advisory Committee.
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