Why flagpoles are the new leylandii
A new source of conflict between neighbours every bit as poisonous as the dreaded, light-depriving leylandii is spreading through suburbs and even the countryside: flagpoles flying national flags.
Sales of flagpoles, usually 15 to 20ft high, have soared in recent years, given a boost by football fervour and the flag-waving patriotism encouraged by both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Although there are strict planning controls on commercial flags, flagpoles flying national flags – and not only those of the British Isles – can be erected just about anywhere without planning consent. The enforcement of any restrictions depends on the way local authorities interpret some ambiguous regulations.
Mike Armitt has decided to sell his Lake District holiday home (pictured) as a dispute over his neighbour’s flagpole has ‘soured the atmosphere’
On the internet there is ample evidence of the misery badly sited flagpoles can cause. There are complaints about poles that loom over people’s gardens, ruin views or even cause an irritating noise during strong winds. Some football fans have even added flashing lights.In the past, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty were excluded from the free-forall, but this appears no longer to be the case.
After complaining about his neighbour’s flagpole at Ambleside in the Lake District, Mike Armitt, 78, thought salvation was at hand when The Mail on Sunday, citing a parliamentary reply from 2004, reported that flagpoles even with national flags could not be erected in national parks without planning consent.
But these regulations are out of date, says the Lake District National Park Authority, which won’t do anything about the 20ft flagpole with a Union Jack that Mr Armitt’s neighbour has placed at the bottom of his garden supposedly blighting what was an uninterrupted view of the stunning Langdales.
Mr Armitt: ‘We had been looking at that beautiful view without the flagpole since we bought our house in 1997’
‘We had been looking at that beautiful view without the flagpole since we bought our house in 1997,’ says Mr Armitt, from Wirral, who with his wife Irene, 65, uses it as a holiday home. ‘It has been placed where it is in order to spoil our view.’
The row is the latest in a string of petty disputes between the Armitts and their neighbour, decorator Paul Carty. Now Mr Armitt, who chairs his family’s ship-broking firm, is selling the two-bedroom home for £650,000, having cut the price by £25,000.
‘These disputes have soured the atmosphere,’ he says. ‘I have never had any arguments with neighbours before, and it is awful that this is about a flag that should be a source of pride.’
The Lake District authority says its mission statement is ‘helping people to enjoy [the national park’s] beauty while fostering the wellbeing of those who live and work here’. But it says there is nothing it can do to prevent flagpoles springing up.
Trend: Sales of flagpoles have soared in recent years
‘As the flag is a national flag it does not require advertisement consent, the flagpole does not require planning permission and we have no control,’ says Felicity Thompson, the authority’s compliance planner.
She cited schedule one of the Town And Country Planning (Control Of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007, which allows the display of any country’s national flag.
‘If you believe that we have misinterpreted the regulations, contact the Department for Communities and Local Government,’ she added.
But astonishingly, its spokesman, David Carnell, said the department would not offer any view at all on the intention of regulations that the department itself had drafted.
‘It is for the park authority to interpret the regulations,’ he said. ‘For decades, planning rules have allowed national flags to be flown without advertisement consent. It has not led to the national parks being covered in flagpoles.’
But there is no denying that the number of private flagpoles in gardens has surged in recent years. A 15ft pole, with a Union Jack, can be bought through Amazon for £34.95. More substantial 20ft poles are for sale for £64.50 plus VAT through Hampshireflag.co.uk, one of the UK’s leading suppliers.
‘Sales to private buyers have doubled over the past five years, helped this year by the Royal Wedding,’ says managing director Graham Wilkinson. ‘Best sellers are the Union Jack or the cross of St George, depending on whether or not there is a World Cup. People are just being more patriotic again, and the stigma of the cross of St George has gone.’
Mr Carty, meanwhile, denies that he had any intention of harming the Armitts’ view with his flagpole, adding: ‘I have undertaken to move it and will do so within 12 months once I have completed an extension to our house.’ ?
Are you involved in a flagpole dispute? Send an email to flagpole@mailonsunday.co.uk.