‘Idiotic’ flats will ruin King’s Road good life, says Felicity Kendal

Actress Felicity Kendal nearly lost her partner Michael rudman to covid earlier this year. Yet far from exhausting her enthusiasm for battle, she is now taking on another foe.

she is campaigning to prevent a property developer from demolishing part of her iconic neighbourhood, London’s King’s road.

Kendal, star of the seventies sitcom the Good Life, has lived in fashionable chelsea on-and- off since the sixties and is protesting against a scheme to demolish a row of red-brick buildings and replace it with a ‘monstrous’ fivestorey complex of offices and luxury apartments with terraces.

‘this entire development is overthe-top and all wrong for the area,’ she protests. ‘this part of chelsea is historic and any development needs to be in keeping with the area’s character.

‘to simply dump a high and oversized chunk of brick and glass right on the King’s road would be architectural vandalism and idiocy. the entire idea needs to be scrapped and re-thought.’

the street was the birthplace of Mary Quant’s swinging sixties’ mini- skirt, Dame Vivienne

Westwood’s 1970s ‘punk’ shop and the 1980s sloane rangers.

the actress is among hundreds of residents objecting to plans by King’s road Properties Ltd — owned by saudi-based HALJ — to destroy a series of shops including a favourite M&s and re-develop it into an emirate-style block with a central glass tower.

More than 800 objections had been lodged to the royal Borough of Kensington and chelsea when submissions closed on Friday.

the developer tells me: ‘We are keen to ensure that any development helps ensure the future prosperity of the world- renowned King’s road. clearly there has been a great deal of interest in the submitted plans and now that the council’s consultation has closed, we will take the opportunity to review all of the comments that have been submitted and determine how to move forward.’