A man who was warned that his mural of Mary Poppins was ‘harmful graffiti’ and must be removed has hit back at the council for ‘whitewashing a symbol of hope’.
Patrick Spens told that Kensington and Chelsea council should focus on other more important things.
Referring to new artwork which appeared overnight in Finsbury Park, he said: ‘There’s a new Banksy out today. I bet the council won’t demand its removal!’
The elusive street artist was confirmed to be behind a new tree mural on the side of a building on the other side of the capital.
He had a picture of the iconic nanny painted on the roof of his home in Earls Court last year, but has now been threatened with enforcement action by Kensington and Chelsea Council.
He painted the mural, a black silhouette of Poppins with her signature umbrella and handbag in a red heart in response to natural disasters in Africa.
An artist who painted a mural of Mary Poppins on the roof of his home has been asked by the council to remove it
Patrick Spen commissioned the artwork as a ‘symbol of hope’ in response to natural disasters in Africa
Patrick Spen (pictured, sat down) has collected signatures from local residents to stop the council ‘whitewashing’ his painting
‘I bet they won’t remove the Banksy!’ A new mural by the elusive street artist appeared on the side of a building near Finsbury Park in London
But the council say that as his home is in a conservation area, the painting is a breach of planning rules and have given him two months to apply for permission or have it removed.
Mr Spens, 55, told that the council were trying to ‘whitewash a symbol of hope’.
He said: ‘I was in a really bad place at the time. I was sitting at home with my daughter on the roof and I was saying ‘God, the world’s in a terrible place at the moment. I want to paint something as a symbol of hope’, and she said ‘just get on with it’.’
Mr Spen, who is a retired consultant, commissioned Saffina Tarbuck, the grandaughter of comedian and TV host Jimmy Tarbuck to paint the picture in the dark so that no one would complain.
The artwork was in response to floods in Libya and the Al Haouz earthquake in Morocco – both of which claimed thousands of lives.
But he said the council wrote to him last month with an ultimatum, giving him two months to put in a planning application and ‘canvas local support’, while telling him that it would ‘most likely be rejected’.
‘People are saying that it’s appalling that the council are concentrating a picture of Mary Poppins.
‘Surely there’s more important things for the council to focus on?’
‘Everyone could do with a bit of Mary Poppins’ magic dust at the moment’, he added.
Kensington and Chelsea Council said the painting was ‘harmful graffiti’ and would spoil the conservation area
The magical nanny was created by n-British author P L Travers in her eponymous series of children’s books.
Poppins was famously portrayed by Julie Andrews in the Academy Award-winning 1964 Disney film.
Responses to Mr Spen’s online petition slammed the council for targeting ‘innocent fun’.
Drawings and murals have previously been the subject of rows between residents and local authorities.
This weekend, furious locals slammed a council for removing a mural of the Union Flag on the side of a fish and chip shop in south east London.
The owner of the Golden Chippy in Greenwich said that the mural, deemed by the council as an ‘unauthorised advert’ was a tourist attraction.
A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea council said: ‘The Council has been made aware of a painting on an external wall in a conservation area which has been done without the benefit of planning permission.
‘We are currently working with the owner to rectify the situation. We have given the owner the opportunity to either apply for retrospective planning permission, or alternatively remove the painting.’