Defiant couple told colour of their house is harming street and they must repaint it

Kate Codrington has started a petition to scrap the conservation zone she lives in (Picture: SWNS)

A council has ordered a couple to repaint their house after they decided lilac wasn’t in keeping with the surrounding area.

Kate Codrington and Ian Davis changed the colour of their home in Oxhey, Hertfordshire, last summer from cream to a light lilac.

But acting on an anonymous tip-off, Watford Borough Council told them the change was not allowed because of the age of the property and denied retrospective planning permission.

While recognising that they live in a conservation area – something she has started a petition to abolish – Kate, 55, said she was severely ‘severely shocked’ at the decision.

A planning officer wrote that their colour was ‘inappropriate to the period of the building which would have used stone like colours’, and that other nearby homes were ‘finished in mostly cream and off-white shades’.

Kate said: ‘I have lived in this house since 2005 and this is just tedious. The council shouldn’t be picking on house colours especially with all of the big ugly tower blocks in Watford. The council should be focusing on much bigger issues like foodbanks.’

In their petition, which has divided the community on Facebook, they describe conservation areas as ‘unfair, costly and an undemocratic burden on those who live within them’.

She was told the colour was not in keeping with other houses in the area (Picture: SWNS)

Explaining why she had her house repainted, Kate said: ‘It is life-enhancing and lifts hearts on a grey day. The world needs more joy and colour.

‘The house had been shabby for two years and it showed dirt. We didn’t know permission was needed and I wasn’t aware about the conservation zone.

‘We love living in Oxhey, it’s a great neighbourhood but it’s an architectural jumble and that’s how we like it, so what exactly are we conserving?

‘We don’t know who complained. To live in a community as friendly and diverse as ours and for someone to be so spiteful to complain is disappointing.

‘I was severely shocked to find out the application had been turned down.

The couple’s house pictured before it was repainted lilac (Picture: Google Street View)

‘I won’t let small-minded moaners and council bureaucracy ruin my mental health but we are considering what action to take about this decision.’

The council’s head of planning, Ben Martin, said: ‘Planning issues do range hugely in scale from the paint used on a house in a conservation area to large scale developments providing much needed homes for Watford families.

‘However big or small the application, we carefully consider each and every one against the planning policies and guidance that apply to that specific project to get the right outcome for our community.

‘Protecting the town’s heritage remains a big issue for a number of residents.’

And so it was that later, after the council told them off, that their house, at first just ghostly, must again be turned a whiter shade of pale

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