This is the story of a Surrey farmer who secretly built a mock tudor castle behind straw bales to try and skirt the planning laws, only to fail and be told to demolish his dream home. For the more detailed story see the The Pint of Milk Test blog.
What are your views though? Has the farmer been dealt with unfairly? Were the council right to object?
It seems a shame to knock down such an attractive home. Couldn't Mr Fiddler be fined instead to deter others?
Allowing people to sidestep laws by hunting for loopholes seems unwise to me. I'd say the spirit of the law has been upheld and it's the right result.
No planning permission, no right to build, no exceptions...knock it down
Perhaps Mr Fiddler should have followed the idea of the couple in this article http://egi.co.uk/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=712559 who gained permission for an agricultural barn, built it, but secretly inside they turned it into a house. They’ve been allowed to keep it after submitting a Certificate of Lawfulness. This idea seems to make more sense than the Mr Fiddler's logic I think.
Mr Fiddler's attempts at trying to exploit a legal loophole have backfired, he maybe should have put more effort into gaining permission lawfully rather than deliberately trying to deceive. He must have realised the consequences would be huge as its not like he has just built a conservatory without permission but an entire castle!