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Treehouse to Be Destroyed Due to Paperwork
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by Jordan Yerman | June 13, 2008 at 04:56 am
214 views | 5 Recommendations | 4 comments
A young boy in Middlesex (north of London) is facing the demolition of his treehouse due to a denied retroactive building permit. This is not a joke.
In a last ditch effort to save the treehouse, James' father Neil is appealing to the independent planning inspectorate.
He said: "My son loves it. He's going to be very upset. It's got completely out of hand. I think the council has been spiteful."
The smart playhouse, complete with stairs and a veranda, was built in 2006 by the family's gardener and is extremely popular with James' friends at his home in Pinner, Middlesex.
However, nine months after it was erected a neighbour complained to Harrow Council, claiming it was too big and out of keeping with the character of the Conservation area.
Officials launched an investigation and in March last year wrote to James' father, Neil Tolley to say he needed to apply for retrospective planning permission for the treehouse.
He applied but planners then refused to grant permission on the basis that the treehouse was too big and an "inappropriate development" in a conservation area.
They ordered that it be torn down.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 05:06 on June 13th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. I think tree houses are brilliant, but I think they should have checked with the council in the first place like everyone else.
at 05:54 on June 13th, 2008
They should also check with the council before they take a piss and dump into their own toilets. How about checking with the council to turn on your stove and cook your food? Why not check into the council before you go on a date, and inform them of when you intend to return?
They should also go jump off a cliff like everyone else too.
If you need permission to build on your own land, then it's not your land.
at 11:53 on June 13th, 2008
If I was his father, I would grag the lazy bum out of the tree, rip his tree house down and kick him out and tell him to get a job!
What is a 21 yearold doing living up a tree for anyway?
at 11:37 on July 19th, 2008
I know this boy very well and have seen the treehouse first-hand. The treehouse looks like a garden shed stuck up a tree, but I don't think it should be demolished; he enjoyes it, and it shoudn't be taken away from him.