The porn tycoon, his helipad and a village in uproar
FOR years the retired lawyers and businessmen of Hersham have enjoyed the peace and calm of their genteel village.
Until, that is, the arrival of adult TV boss Paul Baxendale-Walker.
The entrepreneur is building a helipad in the grounds of the £6million mansion he has bought in the heart of the Surrey stockbroker belt.
Residents are outraged, saying the concrete landing site is an eyesore and the resultant noise will wreck their quality of life.
But Oxford- educated Mr Baxendale-Walker, who sometimes stars in his pornographic films, is convinced he has done nothing wrong.
Responding to his Hersham neighbours’ concerns, the 48 year old said: ‘Every Englishman’s home is his castle. I am completely entitled to have a helipad on my land. If they want a lift, they can just ask me.’
He bought six-bedroom Burleigh House earlier this year from a property developer. It is near the prestigious Burhill Golf Club and is described by estate agents as ‘a sophisticated, welcoming house, designed in the style of a traditional English country residence’.
The helipad is being built on two acres once owned by a part of the Burhill group, which was founded in 1926 to manage the estates of Lord Iveagh, boss of the Guinness empire. A covenant on the land says it must stay as a paddock.
‘We believe the helipad is totally inappropriate,’ said a spokesman for the Burhill Group. ‘We are taking legal action and it is now in our solicitors’ hands.’
Malcolm Groom, 62, a retired oil and gas lawyer who lives next to Burleigh House, was one of the first to complain.
‘People like BaxendaleWalker choose this lovely area because of its quiet serenity and peacefulness and the moment they arrive they destroy what it is they were looking for,’ he said.
‘He says he can do what he wants with his castle but what about our castle?’ His wife Kim said she had discovered that a helicopter can land 28 times a year without permission.
Jean Connell and her husband, John, a former chairman of The Distillers Company, have lived in their house next to the paddock for 50 years.
Mrs Connell said: ‘A few years ago it was a peaceful little backwater here.
‘Now if this man is going to be allowed to get away with it you will have helicopters coming in, their friends arriving. He has got money coming out of his ears. He has got a Harley Davidson and a stretch limousine.
‘Nothing bothers him and he thinks with all of his money he can get away with it. He hasn’t even moved in yet. We’re both in our 80s and want to have a peaceful old age.’
An Elmbridge council spokesman said an enforcement investigation had been opened but suggested that planning permission would not be necessary.
Mr Baxendale-Walker, who was struck off as a solicitor six years ago, has varied business interests which include Bluebird Films.
He uses the pseudonym Paul Chaplin and appeared as the character Jo-Kerr in a blue spoof of the Batman franchise called Katwoman.
Earlier this year he bought the lads magazine Loaded from administrators and announced the launch of Loaded TV, which would include an adult channel. He is also a tax adviser.