Sweet success: High Court rules London woman's candy striped house as 'entirely lawful'
A London woman who painted her townhouse with red and white stripes has won a two-year-battle against her local council.
Property developer Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring painted the candy stripes on the building in Kensington in 2015.
A much different look to the more conservative neighbours, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ordered the 71-year-old to repaint her property because it didn’t keep with the look of the area.
Refusing to budge, Ms Lisle-Mainwaring launched a judicial review at the High Court after failed appeals to magistrates and Isleworth Crown Court in 2016.
This week her persistence paid off, with the judge ruling her decorations as “entirely lawful”.
"In my judgment, to allow a local planning authority (LPA) to use section 215 to deal with questions of aesthetics, as opposed to disrepair or dilapidation, falls outside the intention and spirit of the Planning Code," Mr Justice Gilbart.
"I am therefore of the view that it is an improper use of Section 215 to use it to alter a lawful painting scheme."
