A FORMER resident of Cobgates care home who famously took on the might of Surrey County Council in a bid to overturn its decision to close her beloved home last year, has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Margaret Bennett, who is now a resident at Abbeyfield Wey Valley Society’s Wey Valley House, celebrated her centenary in style with her room filled with flowers and lots of presents.

She started the day with a visit from the Mayor and Mayoress of Farnham, John and Gillian Ward, who joined her for coffee and cake, along with her son who had travelled from New Zealand for the occasion and two old friends from Japan.

A card from the Queen arrived just before lunch and she also received a letter of congratulations from The Prince of Wales who is patron of Abbeyfield. 

Margaret enjoyed lunch with the other residents of the home plus six guests with plenty of sparkling wine being consumed. She then had a short rest before going to her other son’s house locally for a large gathering of friends and family all wanting to celebrate with her.

Margaret was born in America and at the age of three moved to Melbourne, Australia where she picked up an Aussie accent before settling in New Zealand and starting a family.

At the ripe age of 84, she came to Britain on holiday and liked it so much she decided to stay for good.

However, her adventures were far from over and just last year, aged 99, Mrs Bennett added another chapter to her eventful life when, backed by her two sons, she challenged the legality of Surrey County Council’s decision to close all six of its remaining in-house care homes - including her home of seven years, Cobgates in Falkner Road.

The county council said it had no choice but to close the six homes as they are failing to meet modern standards.

But this was fiercely disputed by residents of Cobgates, and in a letter confirming the commencement of legal action, Mrs Bennett’s son Gregory said the council’s decision was “not lawful” and threatened to challenge Surrey in the UK and European courts.

He added “at least one” Cobgates resident has passed away since Surrey’s decision and accused the council of breaching Article 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which states ‘no one should be deprived of his life intentionally’.

“I don’t want to leave,” Margaret told The Herald in March 2015. “This is such a warm, loving place and the staff are wonderful. I’ve made many friends with the carers and I love them. I know everybody and the layout, and have many friends - I don’t want to lose them, it’s not fair.”

However, faced with huge legal costs, the Bennett family’s legal challenge petered out and Cobgates closed earlier this summer on schedule - forcing its remaining 19 residents to find new homes.

Just four members of Cobgates’ 46 person-strong staff have been re-employed by the council, with a dozen made compulsorily redundant and the rest either accepting severance packages or jobs elsewhere.

Surrey’s cabinet member for adult social care, Mel Few, indicated last year that the Cobgates building would retain an adult social care function in the future. However, Cobgates is currently vacant and Surrey is yet to announce a decision on its future.