Man builds castle in UK, hidden, without permit

wyk

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKL257859320080125

Link with pics added:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=510161&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A British farmer built an entire mock castle behind a screen of hay bales and lived there concealed for four years to evade planning regulations, officials said on Friday -- but it may be torn down anyway.

The council wants the building near Redhill some 30 km (19 miles) south of London to be demolished, along with an associated conservatory, marquee structure, wooden bridge, patio, decking and tarmac racecourse.

I would leave it simply for the fact it has a cool cannon. So whatcha folks think? As an ex pat, I am curious to see the viewpoints.

BTW, you can vote more than one choice in the poll.

WYK

Terry

Damn.
I'd build something like that if I had the land and the money.
£50,000 is fairly cheap too. I wonder how much the land cost.

**** this.I'm selling my house as soon as I find some cheap land.

Sherifu

How in the hell did they think they could get away with it Of course there are no objections when nobody could see it, how can he prove it's been there for 3/4 years?

Sierra Oscar

Amazing! I say fair play.:D

Toots

I suppose it wouldn't be such an issue if he'd applied for retrospective planning permission or something. IMO he's taking the piss a bit with all the deception. I don't think he should be made tear it down, but he should have to apply for planning permission like everyone else!

xebec

That's a fantastic looking place and is probably worth a fortune if it went for sale. I think he should be allowed to keep it just for having the balls to do it It is more than a little bit weird though.

biko

It's a very nice castle but he did know what he was doing and what the consequences would be.

PeakOutput

i dont think it should be torn down but he knew exactly what he was doing so he does need to be punished id imagine a large fine ie 25-50K would be sufficient

Nermal

It looks ghastly, it's punishment enough to let the deluded fool live in it.

Naos

That is sheer brilliance.

How could the neighbours not suspect something for that long though...

Beelzebub

An Englishman's Hayme is his Castle, hardee har har.

Seriously though it looks ver naaiice.

rubadub

He should have just kept the haystacks up.

Wonder if anybody has made a sneaky underground pad, like the one Hal found in Malcolm in the middle.

Fairt play to him

eoin5

He must have had the money hanging around, imagine the chat with the bank manager if he had to borrow for it: "eh.... I need 50k for a state of the art barn, with ah.. automatic slurry collection and washdown. My back isnt all it used to be!"

Poxyshamrock

Great Story!
Nice house too

GhostInTheRuins

Fair play to him. How can he prove it's been there for four years though?

Capt'n Midnight

only £50K ?

Toots

D.T. Jesus wrote: »

Fair play to him. How can he prove it's been there for four years though?

Good point, if nobody could see it, how can we know it was there???? Dun dun dun....

Well he's not the only one to do this http://greenreading.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html

eoin5

I think we should all live in tents made of hemp, and so what if they should go on fire from time to time. It happens you know, you can only be so carefull

rrpc

It's the most naff looking thing I've ever seen. PVC mock tudor windows.. aaaaarghh! Did you look at them closely?

And the conservatory :eek:

Very tudor alright, every castle had a conservatory or two...

The Real B-man

Excellent! :d

SligoBrewer

Nice House..

Fair Play to him I suppose

Onikage

Did they not notice him building it? And surely it looks better than the tarped up bales of hay, which he could put up back up indefinitely if the house was demolished? Can't see the council winning this one, not without looking like fools anyway.

Toto Wolfcastle

On Sky News he said he applied for planning permission but the council ignored it for 10 years (:rolleyes:) and then when his wife got pregnant they decided they couldn't really live in a shed anymore.

How did the council not find out about this though? I mean, I know they had it blocked with hay and stuff but did no one get suspicious with all the activity when it was being built? The wife said that they had to make sure no one was looking when they wanted to go out, so how did they get all the equipment and builders, etc, in?

Let him keep it I say. If the council are too stupid not to notice it then that's their problem.

Black Swan

His home is his castle.

Crazy Christ

It is one phucking nice castle, I must admit

I'd love to see his council tax demand - £1800 per year for a pile of straw!

SimpleSam06

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

only £50K ?

Makes you wonder what the profit margins on the half-million off the back of a truck semi-ds are, ha?

Capt'n Midnight

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Makes you wonder what the profit margins on the half-million off the back of a truck semi-ds are, ha?

not really, just look at house prices before the boom and add in the increased costs of labour and materials. Then remember they were making a profit back then too. Add in the tax paid at all stages including your income tax and the real cost of the house without all the middlemen only a fraction of what you have to earn to pay for it.

SimpleSam06

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

not really, just look at house prices before the boom and add in the increased costs of labour and materials.

Eh I dunno, wage inflation is only 20-30% in the private sector since 2000, and inflation is around the same.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Then remember they were making a profit back then too.

Yes indeed.

I would imagine that £50k may be for materials only, typically the cost of building a house is 30% materials 70% labour, plus tax & land.

SimpleSam06

Deleted User wrote: »

I would imagine that £50k may be for materials only, typically the cost of building a house is 30% materials 70% labour, plus tax & land.

Well you're only taxed on your profits, so that can be discounted. Even factoring in everything else, you're still looking at maybe €300,000. Can you see a place like that being sold for less than a million, maybe two million euros here? By extrapolation, the extreme overpricing of apartments and housing in Ireland becomes apparent.

Saruman

I would love it... though the question is, did he apply for permission and was refused... or did he simply decide to not bother with plannng permission.

I can not understand how the neighbours did not notice a castle being built. Obviously they can not see it from their homes.. so how can they possibly object, even if they do not like it.. they can not see it.

Kur4mA

The man is a legend. Also... I voted all four options because I'm bored.

Toto Wolfcastle

Saruman wrote: »

I would love it... though the question is, did he apply for permission and was refused... or did he simply decide to not bother with plannng permission.

I can not understand how the neighbours did not notice a castle being built. Obviously they can not see it from their homes.. so how can they possibly object, even if they do not like it.. they can not see it.

He said he applied but that the council ignored his request on purpose for 10 years. :rolleyes:

MoominPapa

If the council use medieval siege equipment to demolish it, battering rams, trebuchets, that sort of thing then I say "Gadzooks! The impious knave shall pay dearly for his folly."

Sherifu

I hope he can hire some archers to defend the place against the planning dept.

Blisterman

This is why planning law is stupid.

A: He built it in the middle of HIS field. Noone else could even see it.
B: The castle's not allowed, but the stack of hay, and bin bags would have been?
C: It's already been built. The damage has been done. Knocking it down would cause even more land to be damaged.

wyk

Blisterman wrote: »

This is why planning law is stupid.

...
C: It's already been built. The damage has been done. Knocking it down would cause even more land to be damaged.

It is amazing the lengths and shortsights that can be accomplished all in the name of saving face. That's all the council has left in this issue. All else considered, it seems to me there isn't really much of a problem that needs to be solved.

WYK

FunkZ

That is class, and I hope he gets to keep it...

Meirleach

That castle is far too awesome to tear down.

Susannahmia

Tis a fine castle English..but tis no barn.:cool:

The_Minister

Maybe I have awful taste, but I think it looks great.
Long may it stand.

FunkZ

I think I might build a castle!

Bump!

Well this Englishmans home isn't his castle, he's been ordered to knock it down!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/surrey/8495412.stm?ls

Farmer loses High Court fight to save hidden castle


A farmer who built a castle hidden behind a stack of straw bales has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.

Robert Fidler, of Salfords, Surrey, built the home - complete with turrets - without planning permission.
He kept it hidden until August 2006 but was ordered to tear it down by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in 2008.
Mr Fidler appealed on the basis that his house had stood for four years without anyone objecting to it.

After the hearing, Mr Fidler pledged to take his fight to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
He said: "This house will never be knocked down. This is a beautiful house that has been lovingly created. I will do whatever it takes to keep it."

citizen_p

the bales of hay look more formidable... more of a palace than a castle.

awsome though... i would (live there that is)

Ridley

If They go to knock it down, just disguise it with a big photograph of an open field.

Mousey-

Mousey- wrote: »

the bales of hay look more formidable... more of a palace than a castle.

awsome though... i would (live there that is)

Unfortunately, it looks like he's not going to be baled out! :pac:

Fringe

rubadub wrote: »

He should have just kept the haystacks up.

Wonder if anybody has made a sneaky underground pad, like the one Hal found in Malcolm in the middle.

Josef Fritzl.

brummytom

Fair fcuking play to him.

Unfortunately, because he's not Asian, the council will definitely make him demolish it - 'tis the way of the world over here unfortunately