Travellers who crowned the front wall of their semi-detached home with four ‘ugly’ horse sculptures have accused ‘jealous’ neighbours of racism after losing a bitter planning battle.
Brandon Rawlings, 27, and his wife Paige, 25, insist complaints over their equine-themed frontage in Kingsclere, Hampshire, were driven by locals who ‘don’t like Gypsies’ and want the family ‘kicked out’.
But irate neighbours have hit back by branding the couple ‘neighbours from hell’ – and claiming the horse-topped wall is only one part of a wider catalogue of alleged disruption in the quiet village street.
Mr Rawlings was ordered by council planners to demolish the bold boundary, where brick pillars crowned with ornaments of rearing horses stand 2.6 metres tall.
After determining that the work was done without authorisation and detrimental to the street’s character, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council initiated enforcement proceedings.
Planning papers reveal how Mr Rawlings fought back against the council, claiming his family were being victimised by local residents.
He claimed to have been told ‘our kind isn’t welcome here’, adding: ‘I do feel like we are being victimised because we are Romany Gypsies and I feel the street are out to just cause us problems.’
In an appeal, Mr Rawlings insisted he had improved the look of his address ‘100 times’, claiming: ‘We as a family feel like we are targeted because we are Romany Gypsies and that is why we are getting all this bother.
‘Our home doesn’t affect the character of the street; it improves the look of the street rather than the overgrown hedges and untidy drive/gardens. Ours is tidy, and I think a lot of this comes down to jealousy!’
He added: ‘I think this all boils down to racism because we have horses on top and the street doesn’t like gypsies. Everybody that sees this place says how we have improved it.
‘The only people who moan are the ones who own their house and have told us to our face our kind isn’t welcome here.’
When the Daily Mail visited the street, neighbours painted a very different picture, accusing the couple of making life a ‘nightmare’ for those living nearby.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘They are neighbours from hell. They do whatever they want and get away with it. It’s appalling. I have had enough, we all have.
‘They are a nightmare. I cannot tolerate it anymore. They are a law upon themselves.
‘They have breached planning regulations with the horses, but nobody has done anything. They just get away with it.
‘The horses themselves are ugly. All the work they have done is terrible.
‘They chopped down trees in the background garden. God knows why. They just got rid of them. They have fires all the time. The noise is terrible.’
Another neighbour added: ‘What they’ve done to that house is bad enough. The front looks like a prison compound.
‘It’s dreadful. They used to have two large dogs which barked all night.
‘They’re absolutely neighbours from hell. I would not wish them to live next to my worst enemy.’
Mr Rawlings was approached for comment, only for the Daily Mail to be informed by his wife, Paige, that he is currently ‘in prison’.
Defending the family, wife Paige insisted: ‘We are being victimised. We are good neighbours. We are kind to people.
‘We were told to remove the trees. We really like the statues. We won’t be taking them down.
‘People just want us to get kicked out. They report us. It’s not fair.
‘We could make it look all scruffy, but we’ve looked after it.’
Council planners said the boundary was out of keeping with the surrounding street, where most homes have low hedges or simple fences along the front.
Additionally, they cautioned that cars would need to stop on the road in order to open the couple’s new gates since they were not set back far enough.
Two objections were made by local residents, according to planning papers. One said: ‘Brick wall of that height with horses (is) completely out of character for the road.’
Mr Rawlings insisted the boundary was built to blend in with nearby hedges and prevent his children from running into the busy road.
He said: ‘The fences we have are four foot with a trellis that you can see through.
‘I have a massive dog, so three-foot fences would be no good and wouldn’t be secure for her or my children.
‘My driveway needs gates to keep my children safe. My property does not affect the street view at all.’
Mr Rawlings then appealed to the independent Planning Inspectorate, but the challenge was denied this month.
The neighbours might believe that the embellishments are hideously unattractive, but at least the place looks neat. They should take a trip up to Birmingham, they would have a Coronary. It actually makes me think of that song by the Osmonds, ‘Crazy Horses.’
In all honesty, I think everything looks fine; everything is neat and well-maintained, and it might seem a bit over the top, but at least delivery drivers won’t have any excuse for not finding it, or anybody else in the street for that matter!
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 