Shop owner ordered to remove sheepdog mural on side of Grade II listed building

But amid warnings the sheepdog mural may set a dangerous precedent for more artwork to "deface" the centuries-old market square in Richmond, it is certainly dividing opinion.

Petitions to save it are now nearing 2,500 signatures, with town planners' and tourism body backing, and calls have been issued for 'Alfie' to be granted leave to stay.

It isn't harming anybody, say campaigners and neighbours, but rather draws a crowd of tourists who enjoy a little colour on what would otherwise be a blank white wall.

"If I paint it over now, a lot of people will think I've just given in," said Christine Swift, owner of York House Antiques, who has been told the mural cannot stay.

"It's water based paint, it can be washed off. But it's good if it makes people smile. What else is there? This is the entrance to the town, but there's nothing here.

"When people see this, it makes them smile. They've come from all over to stop and photograph it. At one point I thought I might get into trouble for cars stopping to look."

Mrs Swift, who will be 80 in October, has owned the antiques shop for 24 years, having built up a business from what was a once derelict but Grade ll listed building.

In May last year, when scaffolding was up to repair the shop's gutterwork, she asked a hobby artist from the town if she might like to use the side of the building as a canvas.

Within two days, Alfie was up, although heavy rain means he's never quite been finished.

Artist Jackie Stubbs says there is a 'wild look' in his eye that she would like to correct, and she still hopes to paint 'Welcome to Richmond' in a banner alongside it.

"To me, Richmond is the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales," said Miss Stubbs, a former landlord of the famous George and Dragon at Hudswell, once Camra's Pub of the Year.

"This painting, of the stone walls, with my silly sheepdog looking up at the signpost of all our attractions, screams 'Welcome to the Dales'."

Retrospective permission

Miss Stubbs' artwork in the area is becoming more popular, after she painted sheep over a bus stop covered in graffiti the night before In Bloom judges came to the town.

"Richmond is a wool-trading town, it was built on the back of that but I think people forget it," the 47-year-old adds. "It would be a crying shame if it was painted over."

After receiving a letter to say the mural must go, Mrs Swift has submitted retrospective listed building consent. No date has been set for a decision, Richmondshire District Council has confirmed, but there are calls for it to be determined by a full planning committee, given the strength of feeling.

Mrs Swift is adamant she would like it to stay.

"I didn't have permission, but I did do it," she said. "It's not as if it can't be rectified. I don't see the harm. It's a plain blank wall in a weathered street. It's just a bit of fun."

Dividing opinion

The retrospective planning application to save the mural has received dozens of comments, with the majority in support, in addition to the petition which has nearly 2,500 signatures.

Richmond Business and Tourism Association, having canvassed its members, has found 92 per cent of respondents were supportive.

The body argues there is a case for the mural to stay, even if only on a temporary basis of five years, given the strength of public feeling.

"The mural appears to give much pleasure and certainly has brightened up a very dull corner of the town," said chair Marcia McLuckie in a letter to council planners.

One objector said it would be better suited to a "child's bedroom" than a 1,000 year old town, but planners at Richmond Town Council have no objections.

The Civic Society argues it should not have been done without permission.

"To grant it retrospective permission at this stage would be to create an alarming precedent for other property owners to produce quasi-public art that could deface the town," it says.

"As to the subject matter of the mural, we feel that it has some relevance to the Dales villages but virtually no relevance to the town of Richmond, its history or its architecture."

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