Save Fidler's castle

Via Hit & Run comes word of British farmer Robert Fidler, who, rather than try to wade his way through planning laws and bureaucrats who are no more tolerable in the U.K. than in the U.S., built himself a castle on the sly.

Over the course of two years, he managed to secretly – and unlawfully – build the imposing mock Tudor structure in one of his fields, shielded behind a 40ft stack of hay bales covered by a huge tarpaulins.

Once it was finished, he and his family moved in and lived there for four years before finally revealing the development – complete with battlements and cannons – in August 2006.

Mr Fidler claims that because the building has been there for four years with no objections, it is no longer illegal.

But he is under siege from council planners, who say the castle at Honeycrock Farm, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, will have to be knocked down.

Taste is subjective, of course, but it appears to my eye that Fidler constructed a quite beautiful home without benefit of bureaucratic input. More important, he and his family really like their Tudor-style dwelling.

Perhaps that's the problem that many people have with what the Fidlers have done; they built what they like, without the hassle and expense of asking the government's permission. If you check the comments on the Daily Mail's Website, those opposed to Fidler and his family argue, over and over again, variations on: "If we're stuck with the rules, he should be too."

That seems to be the way authoritarian states are constructed. Meek people who are too timid to tell the government to go to Hell resent their more daring neighbors. Rather than admire and support initiative, they become allies of the people standing on their necks.

You can contact the Reigate and Banstead Borough Council -- the government entity that's tormenting Fidler -- here: customer.services@reigate-banstead.gov.uk