WHEN MILLIONAIRE NEIGHBOURS GO TO WAR
Seldom has a planning battle been so bloody. For years residents in a leafy enclave, led by David Attenborough’s nephew, fought DJ Jamie Theakston’s scheme to build in his garden. Now, as Attenborough reveals, it’s all come to a toxic end
coach house in the grounds of Mr Theakston’s garden and the removal of eight trees.
Because of its highly favourable location — local residents include Ant and Dec, former Dr Who David Tennant and TV presenter Clare Balding — once completed it would be worth upwards of £2.5m.
Having published the plans, the council received a total of 26 objections. These included concerns over disruption caused by construction traffic, harm to trees, loss of views, and harm to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. ‘This is not against anyone making a profit,’ one resident told the Mail.
‘But this £2.5 million house will not give anything back to the community.
‘He is just asset- stripping his house. Then he’ll sell it and move away. That is why people mind, they are upset.’
Another said: ‘I do recognise the need for affordable housing, absolutely, but people can’t sell their £2 million houses round here at the moment. How will having another one help?’
A third added that the Attenboroughs and the Theakstons were like ‘ chalk and cheese’. ‘It’s the new luvvies pushing out the old luvvies,’ she said.
And a fourth said: ‘ By pushing this application through, all the council is doing is putting a load of cash in a rich guy’s pocket.
‘It looks like he makes more money from property development than from TV or radio work.’
Indeed, while Mr Theakston has forged a successful career in broadcasting, there can be no doubt that he has also benefited from shrewd property investments. He purchased his first flat in Notting Hill in the early Nineties for £58,000. By 2000 he had upgraded to a £400,000 three-bed flat in nearby Ladbroke Grove which he sold for £640,000 in 2006.
Soon after, he moved in to a fourbed townhouse in Notting Hill which it is understood cost in the region of £1 million.
He extensively renovated the property, creating a stunning family home which has also featured in a number of interiors magazines. It sold for £4.2 million in 2010 — the same year that Mr Theakston purchased his spacious new home in Chiswick.
As well as the family home, Mr Theakston is a director and shareholder in a property development company which last year purchased a home for £1.55 million in Barnes.
Planning permission has recently been granted to enlarge it.
According to his firm’s website the company is responsible for creating ‘ some of the most desirable homes in West London’ over the past decade.
And his activities have not just been confined to London.
Raised in East Sussex, Theakston and his father owned and renovated a three-bed cottage in the village of Ditchling which was sold for £290,000 in 2007.
In the same village, he also purchased Grade I listed Wings Place for £800,000 in 2001.
The five-bedroom home once belonged to Henry VIII, who gave it to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, as part of their divorce settlement. It was sold for £1.8 million in 2015.
‘We kept the house for a decade, which is kind of amazing by my standards. I usually move on after about three years,’ he said of the house. ‘At heart I think I am a bit of a frustrated architect.
‘ I have done up quite a few properties, and I have even got to the stage where friends have asked me to help them with theirs.
‘I am fascinated by the spaces around us, where we think and work. They are so important. They can make you happy or unhappy.’ WITH emotions running high in the wake of the council’s decision to grant permission for the new-build house, Mr Theakston yesterday declined to speak with the Mail.
In his only public comment thus far on the matter he said: ‘I fully support our neighbours’ right to appeal and we have ensured that throughout the process all of their concerns have been addressed and the plans have been constantly adapted to accommodate these.’
So, over to Mr Attenborough for the last word.
‘We fought Jamie’s gym proposal for 18 months and we have fought this for a year,’ he said.
‘So about two-and-a-half years in total, fighting Jamie Theakston’s ambitions to make money.
‘At the end of it the council have voted us out of our home and for the savaging of a conservation area as if it was nothing.
‘I’ve always contended that one of the most emotional words in the English language is the word ‘home’.
‘You put roots down. And now we have to wrench them out.’