By Dan Cain
MILLIONS of pounds might be able to buy a dream home – but it doesn’t guarantee a smooth ride with neighbours.
Just ask the likes of Robbie Williams, Gordon Ramsay, Billie Faiers and Holly Willoughby who are just a few of the celebs that have clashed with other homeowners and local councils over their property plans.
We dive into some of the most high-profile planning fall outs of recent years:
Robbie Williams
POP icon Robbie’s ownership of a huge south west London pad hasn’t been without its headaches.
Most recently he’s felt the ire of a neighbour objecting to a proposal to trim some of the property’s trees which are said to be blocking light into the building.
Robbie, 49, wants to prune 14 plants but has been branded a “vandal” because of it.
A neighbour wrote to planners: “Hello there, I think these trees should be left as chopping down healthy trees is an act of environmental vandalism.
“Shame on anyone wanting to destroy our leafy friends. They give us life – we should respect theirs.”
Previously Robbie clashed with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy over plans to renovate his £17.5million Grade II listed mansion.
The rocker argued unsuccessfully that vibrations could damage ancient paintings and frescoes in his home, where he has lived for over 50 years.
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon’s idyllic Cornish bolt hole has been soured in recent years due to a backlash from locals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gordon’s issues with Cornwall started in 2020 when he, wife Tana and their five kids upped sticks from London to live in their £4million holiday home.
They made the 246 mile trip when people could be fined for any non-essential travel and were urged not to stay in their second homes.
He was called “disgusting” and accused of “flouting government rules” by one local, despite the star insisting he had done nothing wrong at the time.
They raged: “Don’t you realise that by doing that you’ve possibly brought the virus with you and because Cornwall is not your main residence, if you and your family get sick you will place yet more strain on an already fragile infrastructure.
“I’m reporting you to the police. What you’ve done is against the law and I hope they force you back to London.”
The furore led Gordon to say he hates the Cornish people.
Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan
Mark and Michelle are happily living inside their £3.5million dream Essex home but the process wasn’t without its hiccups.
They had to amend plans along the way and, to their credit, dealt with all the setbacks in the right manner.
Their parish council previously objected to the size of the project and the height of proposed security gates and walls.
Planning documents said: “This new amended application further increases the size of the dwelling, and the Parish Council feels that these proposed changes increase the size of the dwelling over the original dwelling size to such a degree that it would, for reasons of its bulk and size, now represent an unacceptable increase and as such have a detrimental impact on the green belt.”
However, it wasn’t long before the proposal was deemed suitable and work quickly commenced.
There was more strife when plans to bolster security at the property, turning it into a ‘fortress’, were rejected due to the proposed 2.1metre boundary wall being deemed out of keeping with the area.
