Robbie Williams threatens new suit against Page over pool
LONDON: Singer Robbie Williams is threatening court action in a planning row with his Led Zeppelin star neighbour Jimmy Page.
The threat came despite the council approving plans four months ago.
Robbie Williams has been feuding with Page after buying the mansion next door to Page’s listed home in 2013.
He wants to build an underground swimming pool but Page has complained that vibrations from the earthworks will damage his home.
Last December, council planners approved Williams’ application on the condition Williams set aside money as a bond in case damage was caused.
Williams is now demanding the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea remove conditions attached to its approval of his plans, telling officers their suggestion he and Page mutually oversee the works would only open the door to further legal problems.
The saga has seen Williams apologise for accusing Page of being ‘mentally unstable’ and Page deny accusing Williams of dressing in a blonde wig and playing Black Sabbath music loudly late at night to annoy him.
Lawyers for Williams have told planners that the scheme lies beyond their authority and would constitute grounds for a judicial review of the decision in the future.
In planning documents, Queen’s Counsel Timothy Starker, acting on behalf of Williams, wrote: ‘The Committee resolved that planning permission should be granted subject to completion of a section 106 agreement, containing, if possible, a mechanism to ensure active and meaningful engagement between applicant and neighbour prior to submission of a monitoring strategy for approval by the authority and provision of a bond to be provided and held for use in the event that damage occurred.”