<\/p>\n
The Cotswold Journal<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n The 18th-century urns graced Marcus Dill\u2019s seven-bedroom home, Idlicote House, in Shipston-on-Stour, before he sold them at auction in 2009. The work of Flemish sculptor, John van Nost, he didn\u2019t realise until six years later that they and their limestone pedestals were listed. But Stratford-on-Avon District Council clamped down and demanded that he get them back and restore them to the his grounds.<\/p>\n Mr Dill explained that the urns and pedestals had been shipped abroad after he sold them for \u00a355,000. He doesn\u2019t even know the purchaser\u2019s name and he has absolutely no way of getting them back, said his barrister, Richard Harwood QC.<\/p>\n But the council hit him with a planning enforcement notice forcing him to track them down or face the consequences. And this week that order was upheld by Court of Appeal judges, meaning Mr Dill could face a criminal trial if he fails to comply. Lord Justice Hickinbottom rejected Mr Dill\u2019s arguments that the urns and pedestals are not \u2018buildings\u2019 and should never have been listed. Mr Harwood earlier told the court that the consequences of the planning row could be \u2018very serious\u2019 for Mr Dill.<\/p>\n If an international hunt for the urns fails, he could be fined, or even jailed, if convicted of breaching the enforcement notice. The offence is one of \u2018strict liability\u2019 and it will be no defence for Mr Dill to say he acted reasonably, said the QC. The court heard the urns had been bought by an \u2018anonymous buyer\u2019 and exported from the UK. And, even if their new owner could be traced, he could not be \u2018compelled\u2019 to return them to Idlicote House.<\/p>\n Planners, however, took a firm line, saying that to grant retrospective consent for the urns\u2019 removal would set \u2019an extremely dangerous precedent\u2019. It was not until 2014 that the council \u2018became aware\u2019 that the urns and pedestals had been removed and \u2018began correspondence with Mr Dill.\u2019\u00a0 He made a retrospective bid for listed building consent to remove them, but the council refused and hit him with the enforcement notice in April 2016. The inspector\u2019s decision was backed by the High Court last year.<\/p>\n Dismissing Mr Dill\u2019s appeal, Lord Justice Hickinbottom said it was Parliament\u2019s intention that the appearance of even moveable items on the listed buildings register should be decisive. And Lords Justice McCombe and Coulson agreed with him that the status of the urns and pedestals as listed buildings was beyond question and \u2018could not be challenged\u2019. Mr Dill was already facing substantial legal costs before his appeal, and the judges added another \u00a36,485 to his bill.<\/p>\n Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision and that of the Planning Inspector enforcing return of two lead urns removed by landowner Marcus Dill from the grounds of Idlecote House without permission, while as a result he could … Continue reading