Man's Castle Could Possibly Not Be His Home
A MAN who hid his castle-home for four years
is now being ordered to demolish the structure.
Robert Fidler, a farmer from Surrey,
constructed the mock-Tudor property without planning permission and
put up bales and a tarpaulin to hide it. He hoped to take advantage
of a law stating that if there are no objections to a building
within four years, the owner can keep it.
The 61-year-old completed the house, which
cost £50,000 and features cannons and battlements, in June 2002 and
he and his family moved in.
Fidler, his wife Linda, 40, and their
nine-year-old son Harry lived there for four years before removing
the bales, thinking they were immune from prosecution. But in 2007
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council ordered him to demolish the
house at Honeycrock Farm in Redhill, Surrey.
Planning officials refused Fidler's appeal a
year later, saying the building works only finished when the straw
bales were removed - so the four-year rule did not apply. Fidler
took his case to the High Court to appeal, but a judge upheld the
order to have the house torn down.
But Fidler says he will appeal again and
will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if
necessary. "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," he said. |
