Deep in the heart of the rural Suffolk, Janice Daines is locked in a bitter
battle to keep her house lilac.
Mrs Daines from Clare near Bury St Edmunds, a single mum with two children,
has been told to either
repaint her house a more appropriate colour or face going to court.
But Mrs Daines, insists she would rather go to jail than repaint her 17th
century timber framed terraced
house. She says that if necessary she will use human rights legislation to
defend her choice of house paint.
Edmundsbury Borough Council, along with English Heritage and the Suffolk
Preservation Society, says the bright purple colour is both inharmonious and
inappropriate for a home in a conservation area.
Mrs Daines got out her purple paint brush around 18 months ago without first
seeking planning permission to change the colour of her Grade Two Listed
property.
After complaints from neighbours the council ordered her to put in
a retrospective planning application for the cosmetic change. This she did.
The council then turned it down and gave her until August to get rid of the
vibrant colour.
A local architect who specialises in historic buildings has agreed to help
Mrs Daines fight the case.
Don Flett claims there is evidence that homes in Suffolk were painted the
same lilac several hundred years ago and so this
could have been her home's original colour.
If her appeal fails Mrs Daines
plans to launch a further appeal claiming infringement of her civil
liberties
under rule 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Meanwhile the Suffolk Preservation Society has told Today that it is
willing to broker a compromise deal with the defiant mother of two. Its
local chairman, Dan Pillar, says the society will pay for the paint and
labour if she will agree to change the colour to a more suitable shade.
But despite admitting that her home does clash horribly with the deep red
walls
of her next door neighbour, Mrs Daines, insists she is in no mood to
compromise
and will be staying lilac for the foreseeable future.
