WHEN MILLIONAIRE NEIGHBOURS GO TO WAR
Seldom has a planning battle been so bloody. For years residents in a leafy enclave, led by David Attenborough’s nephew, fought DJ Jamie Theakston’s scheme to build in his garden. Now, as Attenborough reveals, it’s all come to a toxic end
ENJOYING a summer’s lunch in the back garden of his nephew’s London home, David Attenborough surveyed the scene with an eye that has earned him a reputation as one of the world’s leading naturalists.
While the vista may have lacked the drama of the open oceans and wildernesses that are his normal hunting grounds, the canopy of trees and greenery lent the scene an undeniable beauty and charm.
‘Isn’t this lovely?’ the 91-year-old enthused to the gathered guests.
But his sense of contentment did not last long. To his horror, Michael Attenborough, son of David’s late brother Richard, the famous actor and filmmaker, informed him that moves were afoot that would see this corner of the capital changed for ever. Plans had been submitted by his next-door neighbour to erect a four-bedroom house in his back garden, he revealed.
Not only would it sit just yards away from the home in which Michael Attenborough and his wife had lived for almost 30 years, but it would also involve the felling of eight trees that bordered it.
This, despite the fact that the properties sit in a Conservation Area established to protect the character of this leafy Victorian suburb in Chiswick, West London.
‘I am unapologetically proud to be part of the Attenborough family that strives, as we all do, to protect and conserve our environment,’ said Mr Attenborough, 68, a former theatre director who now teaches at the drama school RADA.
‘I remember last summer listening to my uncle lavish praise on such a beautiful, peaceful area, and his admiration for the borough that has protected it, and then watching his face fall in shock when I told him there was a high possibility of it being swept away to make way for yet more bricks and mortar.’
And the illustrious family is not alone in sharing that dismay. Many neighbours in this well-to-do street, where properties are worth an average £2 million, joined forces to fight the proposed development.
In one letter to council planners, a resident claimed the worry caused by the proposed development was making them ill.
ANOTHER described it as a ‘tragedy’ and an act of ‘cultural vandalism’, while others directed their anger at the man behind the plans — accusing him of being an ‘asset-stripper’ trying to ‘shoehorn’ a ‘grossly excessive’ development into a corner of his garden. ‘In a crowded and over-polluted neighbourhood the applicant seeks to cut down trees and increase density for nothing but personal gain’, another wrote.
It continued: ‘This is no effort to address the housing shortage in London, no attempt to provide affordable housing, but instead an attempt to build a multi-million pound property within the grounds of a property that was recently advertised for sale at £6.5 million.’
So who is the, clearly, very-wealthy individual at whom such ire is directed?
Step forward Jamie Theakston, the television and radio disc jockey who made his name as a presenter on Live & Kicking and Top Of The Pops and who currently fronts Heart FM’s breakfast show.
What fewer people may know, however, is that Theakston has also had financial success as a property developer. Indeed, as the Mail reveals today, having started off 25 years ago in a £58,000 flat ‘too small to swing a cat in’, he has now a property portfolio worth some £10 million.
In that time he has owned multiple flats and houses, including investment properties and increasingly grand family homes that he has renovated before selling on for a healthy profit.
Today, as well as his £6.5million family home, he owns a 50 per cent stake in a property development company that last year purchased a £1.5 million home in London. It is currently being enlarged — no doubt with an eye to selling on with an inflated price tag.
And now he can add another £2.5million home to his property empire. Because at a meeting on Thursday night, Hounslow Borough Council ignored the protests of the Attenboroughs and their neighbours and granted planning permission for the development in his garden.
The planning committee granted Theakston approval to build, ruling that it would neither damage ‘the character and appearance’ of the desirable area nor cause ‘harm’ to neighbours’ living conditions.
It concluded: ‘The proposed accommodation would be of a satisfactory standard and appropriate mitigation measures and landscaping conditions would protect retained trees in the vicinity of the site.’
The loss of the eight trees was deemed ‘acceptable’ as the majority were not widely visible across the Conservation Area.
Mr Theakston was not present for the decision. But Mr Attenborough was. And, speaking to the Mail afterwards, he said he felt it left him and his wife Karen with no choice but to put the house in which they raised their two children on the market and move out.
‘It feels very cruel to us to lose our home for somebody’s profit — it’s tough,’ he said.
‘Jamie’s trying to make a great deal of money thank you very much. He actually laid out the sums for me. He was very honest about it. But as my uncle David would say, you lose these places and they don’t come back, they are irreplaceable.
‘You have to take a stand and say greenery is important, gardens are important, biodiversity is important.’
Of course, while elements of this battle over a garden in Chiswick are unique, they will also strike a chord with people the length and breadth of Britain whatever their viewpoints.
Many will sympathise with the Attenboroughs and their neighbours, desperate to enjoy their homes and to protect the environment. Why should someone be able to plonk a house right next door to them, blocking the light and changing the outlook for ever?
But others, no doubt, will side with Mr Theakston. Why shouldn’t he be able to do what he likes with his own garden, they will ask.
After all, aren’t we always being told that there is a need for more housing?
And if the planners are happy, then surely he’s doing a good thing.
Some will also accuse his neighbours of being Nimbys — unwilling to share the joys of living in a neighbourhood where homes such as theirs can fetch more than £2 million. They may also claim the planning system gives far too much weight to those wishing to block the developments. Given his experience with his current home, it is a view 47year-old Mr Theakston will have some sympathy with.
He has spent the last eight years wrangling with the local council, and fielding complaints from neighbours, over renovations to the five-bedroom detached property.
According to land registry records, he and his wife Sophie purchased the house in July 2010 for £3.85 million.
Within months, he had lodged an application to demolish extensions and replace them with a large modern extension the width of the house. But neighbours complained the work would damage nearby trees and would also result in the loss of ‘unique’ aspects of the house. The council subsequently refused the application on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the Conservation Area and would not ‘preserve or enhance the area’.
Mr Theakston appealed and in April 2011 the dec-ision was overturned by a planning inspector.
Speaking of his experience afterwards, he said: ‘I fell foul of planning officers. I had never come across these committees before. Without even visiting the property, they decided they didn’t like it, even though everyone else was in favour.
‘I had to take it to appeal, which took six months and thousands of pounds in fees and lost rent. The independent arbitrator took about four minutes to rule in my favour. The whole process was just ridiculous.’
The extension was duly built — its sleek lines since featuring in glossy interiors magazines as well as on ITV’s Through The Keyhole.
With the work completed, in 2013 Mr Theakston put the double-fronted house up for sale at £6.5 million.
Had it sold, it would have been the second most expensive house ever sold in Chiswick, about six miles from the centre of London.
BUT with no takers, the couple, who have two sons, took it off the market and submitted a new planning application to build a swimming pool and gym at the end of the garden nearest to the Attenboroughs.
Again multiple objections were lodged. These included concerns about the impact of the new single-storey building on the Conservation Area as well as risk to trees and increased noise. The council refused the application. Again the reason given was the impact on the Conservation Area and the impact on neighbouring properties.
Rather than appeal against that decision, in June of last year, Mr Theakston submitted new plans for a two-storey family house to be built alongside the Attenboroughs.
It was to have four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a utility area and bike storage as well as off-street parking. It would be designed to mirror the Attenboroughs’ semi. Construction of the house would require the demolition of a Victorian
coach house in the grounds of Mr Theakston’s garden and the removal of eight trees.
Because of its highly favourable location — local residents include Ant and Dec, former Dr Who David Tennant and TV presenter Clare Balding — once completed it would be worth upwards of £2.5m.
Having published the plans, the council received a total of 26 objections. These included concerns over disruption caused by construction traffic, harm to trees, loss of views, and harm to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. ‘This is not against anyone making a profit,’ one resident told the Mail.
‘But this £2.5 million house will not give anything back to the community.
‘He is just asset-stripping his house. Then he’ll sell it and move away. That is why people mind, they are upset.’
Another said: ‘I do recognise the need for affordable housing, absolutely, but people can’t sell their £2 million houses round here at the moment. How will having another one help?’
A third added that the Attenboroughs and the Theakstons were like ‘chalk and cheese’. ‘It’s the new luvvies pushing out the old luvvies,’ she said.
And a fourth said: ‘By pushing this application through, all the council is doing is putting a load of cash in a rich guy’s pocket.
‘It looks like he makes more money from property development than from TV or radio work.’
Indeed, while Mr Theakston has forged a successful career in broadcasting, there can be no doubt that he has also benefited from shrewd property investments. He purchased his first flat in Notting Hill in the early Nineties for £58,000. By 2000 he had upgraded to a £400,000 three-bed flat in nearby Ladbroke Grove which he sold for £640,000 in 2006.
Soon after, he moved in to a fourbed townhouse in Notting Hill which it is understood cost in the region of £1 million.
He extensively renovated the property, creating a stunning family home which has also featured in a number of interiors magazines. It sold for £4.2 million in 2010 — the same year that Mr Theakston purchased his spacious new home in Chiswick.
As well as the family home, Mr Theakston is a director and shareholder in a property development company which last year purchased a home for £1.55 million in Barnes.
Planning permission has recently been granted to enlarge it.
According to his firm’s website the company is responsible for creating ‘some of the most desirable homes in West London’ over the past decade.
And his activities have not just been confined to London.
Raised in East Sussex, Theakston and his father owned and renovated a three-bed cottage in the village of Ditchling which was sold for £290,000 in 2007.
In the same village, he also purchased Grade I listed Wings Place for £800,000 in 2001.
The five-bedroom home once belonged to Henry VIII, who gave it to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, as part of their divorce settlement. It was sold for £1.8 million in 2015.
‘We kept the house for a decade, which is kind of amazing by my standards. I usually move on after about three years,’ he said of the house. ‘At heart I think I am a bit of a frustrated architect.
‘I have done up quite a few properties, and I have even got to the stage where friends have asked me to help them with theirs.
‘I am fascinated by the spaces around us, where we think and work. They are so important. They can make you happy or unhappy.’
WITH emotions running high in the wake of the council’s decision to grant permission for the new-build house, Mr Theakston yesterday declined to speak with the Mail.
In his only public comment thus far on the matter he said: ‘I fully support our neighbours’ right to appeal and we have ensured that throughout the process all of their concerns have been addressed and the plans have been constantly adapted to accommodate these.’
So, over to Mr Attenborough for the last word.
‘We fought Jamie’s gym proposal for 18 months and we have fought this for a year,’ he said.
‘So about two-and-a-half years in total, fighting Jamie Theakston’s ambitions to make money.
‘At the end of it the council have voted us out of our home and for the savaging of a conservation area as if it was nothing.
‘I’ve always contended that one of the most emotional words in the English language is the word ‘home’.
‘You put roots down. And now we have to wrench them out.’