A man who spent £100,000 building a treehouse in the woods during lockdown without permission is now hoping it doesn't get torn down. 42-year-old John Kitson has said he is a "silly bugger" for not getting planning permission however a plan would have "limited" his ability to make artistic decisions as work progressed.
The striking build has one bedroom and one bathroom and is now rented out as holiday accommodation in Morval, near Looe, Cornwall, advertised as a "cosy couples' retreat". The dad-of-three said he knows the treehouse's fate is "all on [him]" now but describes it as a "one-of-a-kind" situation that he hopes people will see is "not bothering anyone".
He has now applied for retrospective planning permission but if unsuccessful, he could be made to tear the whole thing down.
Speaking to CornwallLive, Mr Kitson said: "If you are building a house, you know exactly what you're going to do before you do it. This was a bit like painting a picture.
"You know what you want in the end, but you don't quite know how you're going to get there, " he added. "I wanted to chop, change, adapt and rebuild to make it perfect. It's quite personal and individual and I wanted it to be a piece of art as cheesy as that sounds."
He wanted it to be a "creative process" and claimed if he did it with permission, the final result "wouldn't have been nearly as good."
In comparison to larger scale developments in the area, he said "it's not bothering anyone and nobody can even see it", and also argued that "pretty much everyone" locally was on board. In the face of the planning dispute, the family has received "lots" of emails of support and comments to the website with the treehouse being described as "very cheerful".
Mr Kitson said: "It's very encouraging and a very rewarding thing to do and we've got lots of happy faces visiting".
He was then asked what he will do if told to demolish his creation. "I'm in denial that's going to happen," he added. "But I've got to do what I've got to do.
"It was a commercial venture and I had a budget but as it went on I fell more and more in love with the project and just didn't want to compromise it. I fell in love with it and other people fell in love with it. I don't blame the planners for doing their job and I'm delighted people are being supportive. If the worst happens, it happens and I'm a silly bugger".
The 42-year-old explained more personal reasons why he began working without on the build before submitting a planning application. He explained he was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer and when the build started and he didn't know if he would be around to "see the end" of it. He is now doing well but still has to have an MRI scan every six months to check the cancer hasn't metastasised.
"I'm in that horrible period of time right now between having your scan and getting your results," he said. "That puts things into context a little. It's one thing taking a tree down but there are more things to life and I didn't know if it be around to see the end frankly when we started.
"I didn't want to f**k around and wait for planners while I was well enough to actually do it. It's a very weak justification and that doesn't justify what I've done but it was the reason for wanting to get on with it.
"Fortunately I am still here and hope to be here for a long time but I could get a call tomorrow and that could be different. It is all on me and I don't want planning officers to get grief for doing their job, which is a very difficult job and they are entitled to make that decision.
"At the end of the day this is one sustainable development and I hope the planner will see that and weigh that against any objections he or she has."
The Cornish Treehouse, as it is named, is advertised as being available to stay in from £195 a night. To view the retrospective planning application, search for planning application number PA22/06132 on Cornwall Council’s planning portal.
