Billionaire Candy’s new turf war with neighbours
BILLIonaIrE Christian Candy is battling a £132 million High Court case filed by a former associate who has accused him of acting like a ‘Bond villain’ and threatening to put him in a ‘deep, dark hole’.
However, property developer Candy has no intention of retreating to the shadows.
He has, I can disclose, opened hostilities on a second front, this time against Camden Council and his London neighbours.
Last year, the council rejected his application to extend the garden in front of five Grade-I listed houses on the edge of regent’s Park, which he snapped up for £100 million in 2015.
now, despite the distraction of the High Court case, Candy has launched an appeal. ‘It’s not likely to be heard until the end of april,’ confirms his spokesman.
Furious objectors pointed out that Christian’s proposal involved extending the garden into the road, thereby reducing it from two lanes to one.
Francesca Cordeiro, chairman of a local residents’ group, predicted that this would cause ‘absolute chaos and gridlock’.
Candy, who purchased a 150-year lease on the road, claimed the enlarged garden was almost exactly as had been envisaged by the 18th-century architect John nash.
a spokesman for his development company, CPC, remarked that the council’s decision ‘defied logic’.
at least Camden council now have a fuller picture of their opponent.
Candy’s ex-business partner Mark Holyoake, 44, alleges Candy and his brother nick subjected him to a campaign of intimidation, including threats against his then pregnant wife after a deal went wrong.
Candy apparently bullied his own brother, and left him weeping ‘in a foetal position on the floor of a hotel room’. and he so disliked nick’s pop star wife Holly valance that he allegedly once remarked she should ‘f****** cross over onto the other side of the road’ if she saw him coming.
Holyoake also claimed Christian calmly ate sweets while demanding payment for a £12 million loan.
‘I don’t think I was eating sweets,’ Candy told the court.
ITV’s political editor Robert Peston is prone to dressing like a man half his age, with a fondness for trendy jackets and designer stubble. But is it fooling anyone? The bombastic broadcaster boasted about getting asked for ID at his son’s music gig: ‘Life does not get much better than this,’ crowed the 56-year-old. Perhaps the bouncer was checking if he was eligible for a senior citizen discount.