A REAL life court drama surrounding The Castle house is to unfold with its owner taking the snub of his caravan park to a planning tribunal.
George Fendyk bought the home from the 1997 movie with plans to make it an office for a caravan park at his Beechworth Mayday Hills estate.
Mr Fendyk initially told The Border Mail he would not appeal, but he now believes going to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is the best response and he can succeed just as The Castle's fictional Kerrigans did in the High Court.
"I'm taking it to VCAT, it's absolute stupidity, there's no grounds for that decision, when their officers twice recommended it," Mr Fendyk said.
"They should have approved it, when I hire an expert I listen to him."
Mr Fendyk noted the caravan park was beyond the historic area of the property and $20,000 generated through fees would be spent on the heritage-listed garden.
He is confident of the decision being overturned in VCAT.
"My grandmother, who has been dead for 30 years, could go in there and win the case; I don't need a lawyer," Mr Fendyk said.
Indigo Council mayor Bernard Gaffney said on Friday that Mr Fendyk phoned on Thursday to notify him of the appeal.
"We talked about The Castle and the caravan park yesterday and he informed me that he was taking the case to VCAT, which is his right," Cr Gaffney said.
He said lawyers for the council would defend the decision which follows the plan being rejected in November when councillors voted to have a masterplan presented to them before making a final decision.
