Beeny turns farm in ‘new Notting Hill’ into a pigsty
PROPERTY expert Sarah Beeny has become embroiled in a planning row with neighbours over landscaping at her £3million country pile.
The former presenter of Property Ladder moved with her family to a 220acre former dairy farm in Somerset in 2019, and the Channel 4 series Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country has followed her ambitious plans to transform the site into a dream home.
However, one of Beeny’s neighbours has complained that the former farm was made “a mess” following work to dig out ponds and erect earthworks.
The work at the farm, near Bruton – known as “the new Notting Hill” because of wealthy residents including George Osborne and Stella Mccartney – has not been backed by parish councils.
The earth banks were made with soil dug up during building work for a three-storey, seven-bedroom stone house, as well as spare soil leftover from the digging of ponds on the estate.
In a planning application submitted by Beeny and her husband, Graham Swift, it was stated that earthworks were “attractively landscaped” and capable of providing an ideal home for wildlife, wildflowers and newly planted trees.
However, another parish council says the “height and shape” of one of the earth embankments has “the effect of reflecting traffic noise” towards neighbouring properties.
Beeny’s family agreed to reduce the height of the bank when possible.
Beeny, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, has been contacted for comment on the plan.