Britain’s ‘biggest man cave’ is finally being dismantled after a decade-long planning dispute and its roof has now been removed. Millionaire Graham Wildin, 70, persistently ignored court orders to demolish his sprawling 10,000 sq ft holiday complex and was even jailed for his defiance.
The controversy began in 2014 when Wildin built a “man cave” complete with bowling alley, casino and movie theater behind his home without the necessary permits. Demolition by Forest of Dean District Council began in June and the recent development saw the roof removed, revealing the hollowed-out interior.
Aerial images reveal the bare structure of the building located behind Wildin’s residence at Cinderford in the Forest of Dean. Gone are the luxury squash courts, children’s playground and bowling alleys seen in an earlier video introducing the site.
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An onlooker commented: “It really doesn’t look like the fancy leisure center we used to see there.” Wildin’s string of court losses began with a High Court injunction in September 2018, which initially ordered the structure to be removed by the end of April 2020.
Ignoring the court order led to a suspended sentence in June 2021, followed by an unsuccessful appeal at the Court of Appeal in November, which resulted in the complex being ordered to be demolished by 10 March 2022. Continued failure to comply triggered the activation of a six-week suspended sentence for contempt of court on 13 August 2022.
After his release from HMP Cardiff, he was given an 18-week deadline to “soften up” the interior of the building and render it unusable. But that deadline expired in January 2023 and last year marked his fifth court defeat as his conviction was upheld and he was ordered to pay £9,962 in costs to the county council – despite his claims he sold everything for just £1.
In September 2023, it was announced that he had been served with an interim injunction to prevent him from bothering his neighbors with parking issues and CCTV. Wildin neighbors accused him of taking out his frustrations with the council on them by filling up street parking spaces with his collection of classic cars.
He appealed and in December it was announced that he had been granted a final order, restricting him to parking just two cars on the road and securing two visitors who can stay for a maximum of eight hours. The judge also ruled that Mr Wildin is not allowed to have CCTV surveillance cameras on the outside of any vehicle or on any extension pole.
However, in March this year it was announced that the six-bedroom house near the ‘man cave’ – believed to be owned by his family, was to become a holiday rental. Temporary permission has been granted to allow it to be used as such – despite local concerns about noise, cars and ‘noisy jays’.
Last month, when asked if he had any comments or if he thought the demolition was fair, Wildin did not respond to questions and immediately returned to the property.
A Forest of Dean District Council spokesman said: “As a council it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and benefit the local area while protecting the community. Hundreds of people watch us every year. proper application planning and development process, unfortunately this was 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 endeavor to recover any demolition costs from the landowner in due course. We will work closely with our demolition contractor to minimize any disruption to residents. “
”We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people living in close proximity to this property for their patience during this lengthy legal process. “”.