Golf legend's 7-year property nightmare: The water bill feud that turned her life upside down

By HOAR Team 2 May, 2025 6 mins read 57 Views

God. I remember reading about this mess back in 2019 and thinking "this'll blow over in a few months." Boy, was I wrong. The whole thing has turned into a soap opera that would make even the writers of Eastenders blush.

Vivien Saunders OBE—yeah, the same woman who crushed it at the Women's British Open in 1977—has been locked in what might be the most expensive and exhausting neighborhood dispute I've ever seen. Seven years of legal battles with the tenants of her luxury lodges in Cambridgeshire. Seven. Years.

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How a water bill sparked World War III

It all kicked off in 2018 when Saunders, now 78, raised questions about water bills at her Abbotsley Country Homes development in St Neots. What started as a simple query spiraled into accusations that lodge residents were illegally tapping into her water supply.

From there? Absolute chaos.

The former golf champion owns 20 log chalets—each worth around £250,000—sitting on land adjacent to her disused 200-acre golf course. That's some serious real estate. And according to one resident who spoke to the Daily Mail, therein lies teh real motivation: they claim Saunders is only pursuing this legal battle because she wants to redevelop the entire site, which would net her millions if she could boot them off.

Saunders calls this "complete and utter nonsense." Her focus, she insists, is on those darn water pipes.

When golf champions attack (allegedly)

The situation got so heated that Saunders was convicted of common assault two years ago. I'm not making this up. She apparently drove her Mercedes 4×4 into a lodge owner named Jill Beresford-Ambridge—who was using crutches at the time!

I've heard of road rage, but lodge rage? That's new.

She tried appealing the conviction last October but no dice. The magistrates weren't buying what she was selling.

From fairways to courtways

Listen. This isn't just any retiree with too much time on her hands. Saunders is a sporting legend who received an OBE in 1998 for her contributions to women's golf. She even ran against David Cameron in the 2015 general election in Witney. (Spoiler alert: she didn't win.)

She's also been a qualified solicitor for 43 years and a Mensa member for half a century. So we're talking about someone who definitely knows her way around both a courtroom and a difficult problem.

Which makes this whole saga even more bizarre.

The mysterious case of the water connection

According to Saunders' legal team, the water pipe was hooked up to her supply without her knowledge when the lodges were built, instead of being connected to the mains. Her barrister, Kerry Bretherton KC, claims the water dispute is just one issue among many, adding there had been "very serious anti-social behaviour" against Saunders.

The residents tell a different story. They say they had a verbal agreement for water supply and were charged according to meter readings. They even claim to have invoices showing they were billed for water between 2011 and 2017.

So what changed in 2018? Apparently, they received a massive bill out of nowhere, along with a new 10% "management fee."

I spoke with a property lawyer friend about this case last week. His response: "already updating my resume to specialize in water disputes—clearly that's where the money is."

The rules nobody knew about (or did they?)

As the battle intensified, Saunders started throwing additional accusations at the lodge owners—claiming they were breaching specific rules of their 125-year lease. Rules like only being allowed to live in the homes for 11 months of the year and needing to maintain a primary residence elsewhere.

She also alleged one lodge was being used for "commercial purposes," some had large unauthorized sheds, and there was machinery drilling a borehole.

A High Court judge previously dismissed calls for the chalet owners to forfeit their lease, and this decision was upheld at a later appeal.

The price of peace

I can't help wondering what this has cost everyone involved. We're talking about a legal battle that's dragged on since 2018. The legal fees alone must be approaching the value of some of those lodges by now.

And for what? A water bill dispute that escalated into... whatever this is.

Saunders purchased the land in three separate transactions between 1986 and 1991. She lives next door to the site in Eynesbury Manor and hopes to convert her disused golf course into a residential estate.

The case continues, as does the misery for everyone involved.

Sometimes I think about how much simpler life would be if we all just installed our own water meters.

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