Listed Buildings Prosecutions Database Commentary

2 metal frame windows in a three storey detached house with purpose made double glazed sashes in November 1998. Barnet LBC considered this had a most adverse effect on the listed building. The defendant argued that there had been a hotchpotch of windows when she moved in in 1988 and the two in question had been in a parlous state with gaps around the sills. Because of an early guilty plea the defendant was fined £2,000 for each window and costs of £850. (Source: The Press, Barnet). Barnet London Borough Council [01-2015] No.1 Wildwood Road, Barnet, North London Listed Grade 2. U nauthorised alterations were made to this house of 1912, to the designs of G. L. Sutcliffe, listed in 1996 and situated within the Hampstead Garden Suburb Conservation Area. One of a pair of houses making strongly asymmetrical compositions with scattered fenestration and features taken from the Vernacular Revival styles linked by a garden wall and garages, designed by G. L. Sutcliffe in 1912. The house is one of an excellent group Nos. 1-15 by Sutcliffe; all the houses being paired and designed to a restricted range of complementary plan forms. The owner Mr. Maurice Lawee bought the house for £3.7m in 2008 and in 2010 was granted Listed Building Consent for an extension to his basement, which included installing a lift, and a garage conversion. Complaints were received by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust that the owner was carrying out unauthorised work on the property and these were found to include the building of two large conservatories, removing inside walls, the original staircase and doors, and joining outside buildings into the main structure of the house. There were also complaints that the brickwork had been harmed. Conservation officers visited the site and required the works to cease, however notwithstanding repeated assurances by Mr. Lawee and his architect that they would stop, further visits showed the works had carried on regardless. Wildwood Road, Barnet before (left) and after (right) The solicitor from Barnet Council's shared legal practice, HB Public Law contended that “Irreversible damage has been caused to the brickwork and outhouse and original features appear to have been destroyed or removed from the building.” Mr. Lawee, pleaded guilty to four offences of carrying out unauthorised work to a listed building at Willesden Magistrates' Court in January 2015 in a prosecution brought by Barnet Council and was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay the council’s costs of £14,000. The owner subsequently applied for retrospective consent for the works, some of which were approved but others were refused. The architectural adviser for the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust, David Davidson, remarked that: “The suburb is an area of international significance in the history of town planning and architecture, and alterations to its buildings need to be carefully considered in order to retain its special characteristics”. (Source: LPA) Braintree District Council [08-1990] Foxhearth Hall, The Street, Foxearth, Essex, Listed Grade 2*. Built in c.1300 the house had been the subject of few adaptations of modifications. In the 15 th century the open aisled hall was floored to give