Ms Lisle-Mainwaring owned a property in a quaint and fashionable cul-de-sac in a conservation area in Kensington. Following a protracted planning dispute with her neighbours, she painted the front of the property with (now famous) red and white stripes.
The local planning authority issued a notice under s215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, requiring her to repaint the front of the property white. Ms Lisle-Mainwaring appealed to the Magistrates' Court and the Crown Court. Both upheld the notice. Ms Lisle-Mainwaring sought a judicial review of their decisions.
The High Court quashed the decisions. It held that:
Whilst the current GPDO does entitle a person to paint the exterior of a non-listed building any colour, doing so is likely to be short lived.
A local planning authority may make a s102 order, requiring the colour to be changed, if it considers that it is expedient in the interest of the proper planning or amenity of the area to do so. Any compensation is likely to be nominal.