Property developers Threadbone Estates Ltd found themselves in a spot of bother yesterday when protesters finally managed to lodge several objections to their recent "restoration and refurbishment" of the Old Rectory in Bradpole. Both the Bradpole Parish Council and the Greater Dorset Planning Authority had resisted hitherto registering the objections for reasons yet to be publicly disclosed.
Speaking on behalf of the protest group, activist Frieze Greene-Belte said that the developer's clearly-stated promise to "retain as far as possible the fabric of the Grade II listed building and refurbish it in the spirit of the original whilst ensuring that it was also in keeping with the heritage and architectural traditions of the area" had "arguably" not been honoured. Angrily waving various "before" and "after" photographs to support his case, he invited the assembled journalists to "spot the difference". Despite "a very good lunch" in the Fish and Duck Public House, a number were able to identify several "points of departure" between the two; including, one perspicaciously noted, the absence of sun loungers in the earlier photograph.
Greater Dorset Planning Authority Chair Cllr William Threadbone-Binstocke declined to comment on the "renovation" directly but said that "opinions as to how faithful any restoration is to the original will always be a matter of opinion", adding that "changing environmental as well as health and safety regulations will also often require some departure from any attempt at a slavish remake".
Whilst the protestors are seeking to have the New Old Rectory demolished, lawyers for Threadbone Estates, Messrs Threadbone, Threadbone and Threadbone will seek to argue that the new build remains faithful to the original design insofar as it is still perfectly suitable for the accommodation of an ambitious and upwardly mobile local Anglican vicar and his family [had he or she the wherewithal to purchase it] but conceded it might be "a tad large" for a Roman Catholic priest, however energetic his housekeeper. "It has definitely been refitted and not repurposed". Mr Joshua Threadbone insisted.
Architect Frank Lloyd Oats has gained something of a reputation for sailing close to the wind. His work on the extension to thrupiecefilm CEO J Arthur Thrupiece's stylish 18th century mansion [Burbank House] tripled the square footage of the property and replaced the Orangery [Robert Adam [1784]] with a state-of-the-art concrete gymnasium aesthetically indebted to Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Pompéia in São Paulo. Dorset Modern Architecture Monthly described it as "bold" and welcomed its unconventional approach. Mrs Amanda J Threadbone not so much.