Now Clooney’s in trouble over fence ‘eyesore’
HIS Hollywood career has seen him outwit all kinds of bad guys. But George Clooney may have finally come unstuck – for breaching his local council’s planning rules.
The actor could face action over a green plastic fence around his riverbank home which ‘destroys’ picturesque views along the Thames.
Clooney, 54, and his lawyer wife, Amal, 37, are midway through a huge rebuilding project at his Grade II-listed home in Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, which they bought for £7 million.
The fence dispute has emerged as neighbours complained about the amount of noise and disruption resulting from the redevelopment, which involves 200 workmen and lorries, vans and diggers coming and going.
Previous occupants of the mansion were happy to open the property’s riverbank frontage, which features horse chestnut and weeping willow trees spilling down to the water.
But the Clooneys have erected a green mesh fence to keep out prying eyes.
The fence, which is to be replaced by a permanent wicker structure, is meant to be at least 12 yards from the bank to comply with planning consent but it is currently on the water’s edge.
A resident living close to the river said: ‘The fence is an eyesore, with the green netting looking particularly tacky compared to the picturesque scenery around it.’
The Clooneys were given three months to move the fence but it remains in place more than a month after the deadline set by South Oxfordshire District Council. Failure to comply with the order could result in council workmen removing the fence.
Council vice- chairman Paul Harrison said: ‘I would prefer the fence not to be there at all. The previous owners didn’t need any fence there.
‘ I’m sorry George Clooney feels he has to live behind a fence ... He’s blocking his views but it also destroys the view along the river. I will be pushing for enforcement action.’
A spokesman for the Clooneys did not respond to a request for comment.