Leah Wood enrages her neighbours with ‘vulgar’ extension
WHEN AN old lady lived in a van outside playwright Alan Bennett’s house for 15 years, the well-heeled residents of the North London street took it in their stride. The arrival of a Rolling Stone’s daughter has, however, caused chaos.
Neighbours are in uproar over Leah Wood’s ‘vulgar’ plans to build an 8ft extension at her £5million four-storey house, unwittingly flouting an alleged unspoken agreement among residents not to develop their back gardens.
The 37-year-old daughter of Ronnie Wood lives in Kentish Town with her TV producer husband Jack MacDonald and their two children Maggie, seven, and Otis, two.
Leah, only eight months younger than Ronnie’s wife Sally, moved there in 2011 after her mother Jo Wood — Ronnie’s ex-wife — bought the house for just over £3 million.
‘It’s an extension that comes out about 8ft, maybe more, at the back of the house on the ground floor,’ Leah, pictured, tells me. ‘There have been hiccups with the council and neighbours over party walls and builders. It’s ridiculous how much stress it causes, it’s making my hair grey!’
A disapproving neighbour tells me: ‘It has never been the sort of street to go in for sub-basements and big extensions. The houses are big enough. What on earth would you want to do with more space...?
‘There has been an unofficial moratorium on back garden extensions over the years. People felt it was a bit vulgar. No one has put in for planning permission for ages. If the Woods had [sought planning permission], they might have faced an objection or two.
‘They are newbies — the older neighbours here are worried that as richer people move in they’ll get more and more of this type of thing.’
There is no need to seek planning permission to extend less than 3m (9.8ft) upwards or outwards. In February Leah told me she wanted to extend her kitchen and build another bedroom as she needed more room and ‘didn’t want to move from Kentish Town as I love living there.’
But the feeling, it seems, is not quite mutual.