‘Next James Bond’ planning row has villagers shaken and stirred
THE actor who is expected to be the next James Bond and his director wife are seeking retrospective planning permission for a lake they excavated on their country estate after work was shut down last year.
Aaron Taylor-johnson and his wife, Sam, upset villagers when they started work on rewilding the grounds of their home in the Mendip Hills in Somerset.
At the centre of the project is the huge lake, which has already been excavated.
But the Grade Ii-listed property is in a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Taylor-johnsons should have first obtained planning permission.
When the council found out about the work, officials visited the property, which used to be owned by Kevin Mccloud, the Grand Designs presenter, and shut down the operation.
That was more than a year ago. Since then the circular muddy crater, which is one acre in size, has been left as a blot on the protected landscape.
Last month, The Sun reported that Eon Productions, which has made most of the Bond films in the series adapted from Ian Fleming’s novels, has offered Aaron Taylor-johnson the role of 007.
The newspaper said that he was likely to sign the contract and start filming this year at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
Some residents, who have been upset by the noise and mess caused by the work at the Taylor-johnsons’ home, had speculated that the celebrity couple intended to use the lake for open water swimming.
Now Mrs Taylor-johnson, 56, and her 33-year-old husband (right) have submitted a retrospective planning application for permission to carry on with the work.
They say the lake is necessary to protect their 16th-century farmhouse from flooding. It will also boost biodiversity in the area, including toads, newts, water voles, otters, badgers and bats.
In their application, they say the amount of surface water that runs down on to their land leaves the five-bed house vulnerable to flooding as well as a studio, barn, guesthouse and piggery.
It is reported that the farmhouse has flooded every year since the Taylor-johnsons bought it in 2011 and the housekeeper recalls the boot room previously flooding up to her knees. Somerset council will decide on their application in the near future. The couple’s planning expert is urging the authority to grant approval so that work can be completed before the “2024 winter storm events”.
Many villagers say they are delighted by the prospect of a boost to wildlife.
Tom Kemp said: “This project will bring desperately needed biodiversity and wildlife conservation improvements. In this regard, I can’t think of a more important project within our parish to date.
“I can see most of the site from my bedroom window and wholeheartedly welcome the effect on my view.”
Mrs Taylor-johnson, who directed the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black that is to be released later this month, and her husband have commissioned a flood risk expert and a biodiversity specialist to help with their case.
A report submitted on their behalf by consultancy Planningsphere stated: “Flooding threatens the historic fabric of the listed farmhouse. The owners are undertaking a project to create new wetland features to alleviate severe flooding to the house and to enhance biodiversity.
But Jamie Walker, a resident, believes that the village has already put up with enough and has called on the council to reject the application.
He said: “I believe this planning application should be turned down in its entirety and the lakes filled in. The noise from the work on these lakes directly affected me. I believe the work to date should not have been carried out without seeking the proper consent.”
Mrs Taylor-johnson, who met her second husband on the set of Nowhere Boy, the 2009 biopic in which he played John Lennon married in 2012 at Babington House in Somerset.
The couple have two daughters together and are thought to spend most of their time living in California.