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Hugh Scully steps into Penzance colour dispute

Antiques Roadshow presenter Hugh Scully has agreed to help try to settle a row over the colours Georgian houses can be painted in Penzance.

For two years, The Cornishman newspaper has backed the Penzance in Colour group – local residents who want to see a sensible policy adopted by the local Penwith Council. They are calling for a new planning policy that not only allows Penzance to be colourful, but positively supports it.

Council planners are routinely issuing enforcement notices against home owners wanting colourful facades. Grey, drab, magnolia and stone are the colours they seek to impose on Georgian house fronts.

In one case a householder has been threatened with 12 months in prison and a £20,000 fine for painting their house lilac.

In its editorial column, The Cornishman commented: “Whilst few of us would want to see listed buildings painted bright reds, purples and pea green as in West coast towns in Ireland, the variety of subtle shades so far applied in Penzance cannot under any stretch of the imagination be considered distasteful or out of keeping.”

Now Mr Scully, who lives in West Cornwall and has a special interest in Regency architecture, has agreed to chair a Colour Palette Committee which campaigners hope will end disputes between residents and council planners.

Spokesman for the Penzance on Colour group, Tim Dwelly, has set up a website to explain the issues and carry updated. You can visit it by clicking here

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