Mr Fidler secretly built himself a new mock tudor castle/house in green belt, hidden behind a massive wall of straw bales. No planning permission, no building control inspections, and no respect for due process. He's in court today after failing to have it pulled down within a 90 day period Warrant for arrest of Surrey 'hidden castle' farmer Robert Fidler - BBC News
I used to visit his farm a lot as there are a few buisnesses in his outbuildings. He has a big old Wessex helicopter in his garage that he intended to use to deliver aid to former eastern european countries, an excentric guy he definately is. BUT he deliberatly built the wall of bales around the farmhouse with the intent of decieving the planning dept. He even put a roof on the bales so no one could see it from above. This guy has fought for years on this thing since he dismantled the bales to reveal his new/old house. Guilty as charged.
Hes built it on his own land and as long as its up to building regulations the local council should butt out . It looks good and he isnt harming anyone . Live and let live .
People often get retrospective planning permission, if the building design was one which would have got permission had there been a prior application. In this case, PP could not be granted, because it is a large house in the green belt. There are literally millions of potential housing plots in the green belt which the owners are not allowed to build on, because if they were allowed, London would become like Tokyo. If this guy was allowed to get away with it, all the others would be pretty angry.
Basically... What a cock ! The kind of arrogant "you can't stop me doing what I want" idiots who think they don't have to obey the rules are just as bad as the small-minded pedants that enforce them...
Apparently he was given a three month prison sentence, suspended. If he doesn't demolish that building by next June he will go to jail. He was shown exiting the Royal Courts of Justice today saying, " I have not broken any laws". Which is obviously bullshit.
Who'd want to put a mock Tudor house/castle (did Tudors have castles?) in the middle of an industrial estate? No accounting for taste I suppose.
What a numpty. Wonder if it was a housing estate and a cash bung in right direction might have been different. Building on greenbelt land has soared over five years - BBC News Some blokes in Huddersfield ruined one of the best places to ride up to for a sunny Sunday pint. Tore down the Castle Hill Inn, sold the original stone (they were supposed to be restoring and extending the original building) and built a few inches too high. Planners made them tear it down and refused all further development on the site.
He should have parked about 50 pikey caravans there, the council would probably be ok with that. Looking at the aerial views its built in the middle of industrial/farm buildings its not exactly spoiling the landscape. But rules are rules I suppose
As Pete quite rightly said, it's the principle that counts not the exact details of this particular case. If this one was allowed there would be lots of others to follow...
It's a pity for him that he isn't a traveller. This is what they did in our village Villagers fury as travellers win five-year battle to stay on illegal campsite... to avoid disrupting their lives | Daily Mail Online
A guy close to where I live decided to get permission for a 2 storey house, then built this 3 storey monster. The council slapped an order on him to stop building and to work himself, he's left it in this state for about 10 years now. Some people just don't know when they are beaten. If you don't get the correct planning permission and take a chance, you deserve everything you get. Sometimes the riues may seem harsh, but they are there for a reason and you'll be glad of them when you neighbour tries to build a 4 storey pidgeon cree from old wooden doors in their garden.
