Graham Wildin, 70, has defied a series of court orders to demolish the leisure complex at the back of his home for more than a decade – he even served time for it
The UK’s ‘biggest man cave’ is finally coming down after a long battle over the ‘eye’ built more than ten years ago.
Millionaire Graham Wildin, 70, has repeatedly defied court orders to demolish his 10,000 sq ft illegal leisure complex and even served jail time for it. The row has been going on since 2014 when he built a man cave with a bowling alley, casino and a cinema at the back of his house – without planning permission.
Wildin, of Cinderford, Gloucestershire, was even closed for failing to comply with a court order to decommission the building and has lost a number of other court cases. Forest of Dean District Council confirmed earlier this year that it would be demolished. And last week work started to tear him apart.
The first of his five court losses came in September 2018, when a High Court order was granted initially giving him until the end of April 2020 to remove the building. He failed to comply with the order and was given a suspended sentence in June 2021.
He then lost an appeal against the sentence at the Court of Appeal that November and he was ordered to demolish the complex by March 10, 2022. But when Wildin’s objection continued, the six-week suspended sentence for contempt of court was activated on August 13, 2022. .
After being released from HMP Cardiff, he was given 18 weeks to “strip” the interior of the building to make it unusable. That term expired in January 2023 and last year was his fifth court defeat after his conviction was upheld and he was ordered to pay £9,962 in costs to the district council – despite claiming he had now sold all for just £1.
It was reported in September 2023 that he had been issued with an interim injunction to stop him harassing neighbors with parking and CCTV. Wildin’s neighbors claimed he is venting his frustration with the council by blocking street parking spaces with his fleet of classic cars. He appealed, and in December was told he was granted a final injunction – allowing him to park just two cars on the street plus provisions for two visitors, who can only stay for a maximum of eight hours.
The judge also ordered that Mr Wildin cannot carry CCTV surveillance cameras on the outside of any vehicle or on any extension pole. But in March this year it was reported that the six-bed house next to the ‘man cave’ – believed to be owned by his family – was to become a holiday home.
Provisional approval has been granted for it to be used as such – despite concerns from local residents about noise, cars and “loud detectors”. A Forest of Dean District Council spokesman said: “As a council, it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and deliver benefits for the local area, while also protecting the community.
“Hundreds of people every year follow due process for planning applications and development, unfortunately this has not happened at this location. It is important to note that the cost of this process should not be borne by the taxpayer, and we will look to recover the full cost of demolition by the landowner in due course.
“We will be working closely with our demolition contractor to limit any disruption to residents. “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people living in the vicinity of this property for their patience during this process of legal term.”