The owner of a house near the UK base of security agency GCHQ, where British street artist Banksy painted a now-famous mural depicting spies, has described how his life “unraveled” after it appeared.
Speaking publicly for
the first time, David Possee, of Cheltenham, said he liked the
mural when he first saw it painted on a house he was renting
out.
But after a series of disputes with the local council over what
to do with the painting the whole issue became “a bit
messy.”
Possee, 45, told community radio station Swindon 105.5 that the
local council should buy the building from him if they want to
keep the artwork.
Banksy’s painting satirizing the illegal spying of intelligence
agency GCHQ appeared in April 2014.
The mural followed Edward Snowden’s revelations which showed
British and American spies were able to monitor ordinary citizens
through the internet.
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ruins of war
While Possee said he thought it was “quite nice” when he
first saw it, the mural quickly became a headache.
He said: “It all unraveled when this mural appeared on the
side of the property.”
Possee has criticized Cheltenham Borough Council for expecting
him to repair the cement render on the wall of his Grade-2 listed
house, but then preventing him from removing it after the mural
was also granted listed status.
He told Swindon 105.5: “They didn’t come up with any sort of
ideas. So I suggested Perspex but they said it’s against listing
consent.”
“They just said ‘you can’t put that on there,’ and I was
threatened with a fine. They offered no alternative.”
Possee went on to describe how discussions with the council
became “messy.”
Cheltenham council vote 12-1 to protect #banksy ‘spy
booth’ by including it as part of listed building @BBCGlos pic.twitter.com/BS5DbT6feP
— Katie Bilboa (@kbilbster) February
19, 2015
“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,” he said.
“Suddenly there’s a 28-day stop notice issued on me, so I
couldn’t repair the render, which they [fined] me for not
repairing. So it was all starting to get a bit messy.”
He accused the local council of not including him in discussions
about the mural.
“They weren’t working closely at all with me,” he said.
Possee has shied away from speaking publicly about the painting,
preferring to go through intermediaries such as his business
partner, Roger Wilson, or art dealer Robin Barton.
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mystery
During the interview, he hit back at those who suspected him of
trying to sell the artwork.
“I’ve had substantial offers from people who collect this
kind of artwork – and if it was about money for me I’d have sold
it by now.”
“If Cheltenham wants it, Cheltenham can have it. But I need
to get on with my own life. So buy the building off me,” he
said.
Martin Chandler, a team leader of development management at
Cheltenham Borough Council, denied that the council was being
unhelpful.
He said: “There has been ample opportunity for Mr Possee to
discuss a positive way forward for the mural but unfortunately
this has not happened.”
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