A millionaire who owns Britain’s ‘largest man cave’ has watched as workers demolish the illegal leisure complex as his neighbors celebrate the end of ‘years of misery’.
Graham Wildin, 72, watched from his country home as contractors demolished the bowling alley, casino and cinema at the back of his home in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
In front of a fleet of the retiree’s luxury cars, piles of bricks, excavators and scaffolding fencing were all visible during the demolition of the 10,000-square-foot building on Tuesday.
Mr Wilden built the building without planning permission in 2014 and spent time behind bars after failing to comply with a court order to dismantle the building.
His continued refusal to take down the structure has upset local planners and residents, who said they were relieved to see the man cave demolished because it was “loud” and an eyesore.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘It’s about time. From here we get a full picture of it. Absolutely, I’m glad it’s going away.
‘I can hear his ball when he plays tennis. He’s just something else that guy. I think all the people down the road are very happy.”
When asked for comment outside his home on Tuesday, Mr Wildin said he thought the demolition was fair, but did not answer questions and immediately returned to the property.
Residents living near him today declined to comment, or did so on the understanding that they would remain anonymous.
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A local resident claimed Mr Wildin ‘didn’t care about anyone or anything’ and said he had honked his horn in the street at 3am.
He said: ‘I don’t know what’s going on in his head. This is a decent area, with decent people. They don’t deserve this.’
After the case dragged on for so long, some neighbors said they could only believe the man cave collapsed when it happened.
One person added: ‘I think it will be a few weeks before they start. I let my trees grow so I couldn’t see it. I used to call it the Berlin Wall. There is no relief until the demolition begins.”
The council said demolition of the man cave started on Friday and that they will ‘recover the full cost of the demolition from the landowner in due course’.
A spokesperson for Forest of Dean District Council said: ‘As a council it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and deliver benefits to the local environment, while also protecting the community.
‘Every year, hundreds of people follow the correct process for planning applications and development, unfortunately this is not the case at this location.
“It is important to note that the cost of this process should not be borne by the taxpayer and we will seek to recover the full cost of the demolition from the landowner in due course.
‘We will work closely with our demolition contractor to limit the inconvenience to local residents. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people living near this property for their patience during this lengthy legal process.”
Mr Wilden has also lost a series of other legal challenges to local planners, angering residents after parking his classic cars and vans outside his neighbours’ houses and applying to turn his neighboring house into a holiday home .
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Wilden’s first of five court defeats came in September 2018 when a Supreme Court order was issued, 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 subsequently lost an appeal against the judgment at the Court of Appeal in November and was ordered to demolish the complex by March 10, 2022.
But as Wildin’s resistance continued, the six-week suspended sentence for contempt of court was activated on August 13, 2022.
Once released from HMP Cardiff, he was given 18 weeks to ‘soft strip’ the inside of the building to make it unusable.
Mr Wilden lost his fifth case over the ‘man cave’ expansion in March 2023 when three High Court judges said it was right to jail him for defying court orders – despite Mr Wildin claiming he had sold the building to a Mexican buyer for just £. 1.
The grandfather’s building had a 16-seat cinema, squash court, casino, bar and bowling alley, as well as a 25-foot, three-storey dollhouse, soft play area and indoor tennis and badminton courts.
Mr Wildin claimed he thought he did not need permission when he started construction, saying he built the complex 5.5 meters into the ground to ensure it was not visible.
In September last year, the millionaire’s neighbors also won a ‘David and Goliath’ lawsuit after complaining that he had parked his eleven classic cars – including a gray Bentley Turbo R and a burgundy Austin 1100 – and two vans on the street with a network of camera surveillance. cameras set up to keep an eye on them.
Residents of Meendhurst Road complained to Gloucestershire Police that Mr Wildin’s behavior in monopolizing on-street parking was anti-social and were granted an interim injunction in September restricting the number of vehicles he could park on the road.
Mr Wildin immediately appealed the order, but in December District Judge Jonathan Napier imposed a full and final injunction on the millionaire, meaning he is now only allowed to park two cars on the road plus a provision for two visitors, who stay maximum eight hours.
The complaints against the pensioner led to a panel being set up by ‘Solace’ – a partnership between Gloucestershire Police and the county’s district and council councils to prevent, investigate and tackle anti-social behavior – who were responsible for obtaining the initial order.
During the two-day trial, Gloucester County Court heard that Mr Wildin had placed parking fines on a number of neighbours’ vehicles blocking his driveway.
The court was also told that due to the large number of vehicles parked on the road, a Forest of Dean District Council refuse truck was unable to collect the waste.
Mr Wildin disputed these and numerous other issues through his legal representative Sasha Wass KC.
During the trial, with Solace seeking a full and final injunction, Mr Wildin’s lawyer insisted his neighbors were to blame and claimed that, apart from one occasion, he had not blocked his neighbours’ driveways with any of his vehicles .
The prosecution, led by Victoria Fennell, alleged that Mr Wildin had moved his collection of classic cars onto the street to create parking chaos in an attempt to force authorities to make a U-turn around the man cave.
Mr Wildin was ordered to pay his own legal costs, believed to be around £80,000, plus £5,000 for Solace’s costs.
The judge did remove one interim condition for causing nuisance and annoyance to others, as well as the power to arrest if he did not comply with the order.
Following the assessment of the anti-social behavior case, Di Blandford, a retired detective detective and coordinator from Solace, said it was a victory for the neighbors who had helped to initiate this action.
Mrs Blandford added: ‘Residents in Meendhurst Road had become frustrated with being unable to park anywhere near their homes when they returned home, as Mr Wildin had taken up all available parking spaces with his collection of cars.
‘This is the first prosecution under anti-social behavior legislation involving parking disputes. I am pleased that many of those affected by Mr Wildin’s antics were able to see how the process was set in motion and how the injunction was supported.
“It felt like a David versus Goliath victory to the neighbors, thanks to the efforts of our prosecutor.”
Ms Fennell said after the trial: ‘I am very pleased with the outcome of the hearing for all the residents of Meendhurst Road.’
But in March this year it was reported that the six-bed house near the ‘man cave’, thought to be owned by his family, would become a holiday rental.
Temporary permission has been given to use it as such, despite locals’ concerns about noise, cars and ‘noisy revelers’.
The Armac Group, the company responsible for the removal of the leisure complex, declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.