Banksy Painting Becomes Nightmare for British Homeowner
(Photo: Getty Images)
Having a graffiti artist paint a worthless picture on the side of your house? That’s a problem. Having an internationally recognized graffiti artist paint a picture worth millions on the side of your house? Turns out, that can be an even bigger problem.
A homeowner in the English town of Cheltenham says his life has been a nightmare ever since the world-famous street artist Banksy painted a mural on the wall of his home.
In a brand new interview, the homeowner, David Possee, says he’s been in a constant battle with local officials over the mural, titled “Spy Booth.”
"At the end of the day I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong," Possee tells local radio station Swindon 105.5. "I’ve bought a house in Cheltenham and one day that (the mural) rocks up and I’m the bad guy."
(Photo: Getty Images)
Possee says the trouble started immediately after he returned from a vacation last April to find his home, which he rents out, was now the home of Banksy’s latest work of street art. “Spy Booth” depicts three trenchcoat-wearing spies listening in on the phone booth that’s in front of the mural.
"It was quite nice," Possee says. "I liked it."
Possee sought help from local officials on how best to protect the priceless mural from the elements and vandals. Unfortunately, it was then he found out the house was on a government landmark registry. And that, Possee says, is when the horrors of bureaucracy took hold.
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“They didn’t come up with any sort of ideas,” Possee says of local officials, who shot down his suggestion to cover the mural with Perspex because it was against rules covering listed buildings.
"They just said, ‘You can’t put that on there’, and I was threatened with a fine," Possee says. "They offered no alternative.”
Making matters worse, the wall on which the mural appears was already in bad shape, and scheduled for repair before Banksy had his way with it. Possee says when began repairs on the now-priceless wall, things got even crazier.
(Photo: Getty Images)
“We had the scaffolding up and then we had a huge panic in Cheltenham thinking I was going to cut it out, which was not the case,” Possee says. He was then victimized by a bureaucratic Catch-22: Possee claims the town issued a stop order barring him from doing any work on the wall — while also fining him for not repairing that same wall.
"They weren’t working closely at all with me," he says. "I felt like I was being kept out of the loop."
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Local officials deny Possee’s versions of events. “There has been ample opportunity for Mr. Possee to discuss a positive way forward for the mural but unfortunately this has not happened,” says an official for the local borough council.
"I was thrown into something I’m not an expert in," Possee responds. He claims the whole mess has caused him significant financial problems. "It’s my source of income and the house is sat empty. It can’t stay that way forever."
And now that this whole legal back and forth over this mural has driven him up the proverbial wall, he wants this house, the wall, the mural and this entire mess off his hands. He says he’s gotten offers from international art collectors but he wants to keep the mural local.
"I’ve said right from the beginning I think it deserves to stay in Cheltenham," he says. "If Cheltenham wants it, Cheltenham can have it. But I need to get on with my life."
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