A South London property developer has sparked a neighbour row after installing a 3m section of the Berlin Wall in his garden, prompting a planning complaint to the council
A property developer who snapped up a piece of the Berlin Wall has managed to trigger division of his own making – all from his English garden. Steven Thorpe, 65, bought a piece of the Berlin Wall, which historically divided the German capital before reunification, and brought it back to his home in Dulwich, south-east London.
He then placed a 3.1m chunk at the end of his garden, prompting a neighbour to complain to Southwark Council that it lacked planning permission. An investigation into the matter has been launched to decide whether the wall can remain.
The huge concrete slab, visible from the road, was brought to the UK because Mr Thorpe wanted a piece of history.
“The original piece I wanted, they wouldn’t sell me as it is going to go to an exhibition at Brandenburg Gate,” he said. He later found a different piece, daubed with graffiti that he thought would be a perfect fit for his garden.
However, he discovered that finding the chunk of wall was the easy part and that he would need to transport it back to the UK and get it installed in his garden.
Mr Thorpe added: “It took an awful lot of wrangling to get it here. We had to get export licences and import licences, but we got it.
“And because it weighs so much, we had to make a dolly to get it down and use lots and lots of machines and winches to get through the garden.”
But clearly not everyone supported the effort.
He said: “Just as we finished putting it up, a neighbour asked ‘what is that?'” He continued: “I explained that it was a piece of the Berlin Wall and he said, ‘You needed to ask my permission for that’. I didn’t think I needed to.”
A Southwark Council spokesperson later said: “We have received a planning complaint about a section of wall installed in Dulwich We will investigate the complaint and take any appropriate action in line with the national planning processes.”
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