Ed Sheeran strikes back! Singer tries to stop neighbor from modifying property after he objected to Ed's pool
After receiving numerous complaints when he tried to make an illegally constructed swimming pool on his property, now it's Ed Sheeran's turn to deny his neighbor's plans for modifications to their own property.
The British pop star recently denied his next-door neighbor, Tony Robinson, a chance to extend his garden property in Suffolk, which has left his neighbor feeling a bit miffed, reports the Daily Mail. Robinson said "I am very disappointed as I formally supported his last planning application to build his chapel in the adjacent field right under my oak tree. The council will have to decide whether our proposal is reasonable."
Sheeran and his neighbors have not always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to property expansion. In July last year, Sheeran had planned to construct an outdoor $600,000 swimming pool on his Sheeranville estate in East Suffolk. However, he had attempted to hide the true nature of the project by saying that it would be a wildlife pond when he submitted the application to East Suffolk Council officials. According to Sheeran's application, the construction of the water body would be to “support nature conservation... providing a natural habitat for dragonflies and water beetles, as well as a source of drinking water to birds and mammals.”
However, neighbors soon noticed that he had strategically placed bales of hay around the body of water to hide a changing room area and was planning to use it as a swimming pool to impress his celebrity friends. "The bales have been placed precisely in the right places and at the right angle to shield his pool,” said his next-door neighbors at the time. Robinson was quoted as saying, “I believe that the development of the site is more about creating an environment for a ‘wild lifestyle’ rather than the actual ‘wildlife.'” Sheeran's bid to use his pond as a swimming pool was consequently denied, and he only received permission to construct a jetty and steps in order “to enable access to the pond in the event of maintenance and emergency.”
And now, it's Sheeran's turn to deny his neighbor a chance to extend his own property. Robinson was left disappointed when the 29-year-old singer objected to his plans to extend his own back garden, which included incorporating part of a paddock that runs alongside the Sheeranville estate. Robinson's garden expansion proposal, which was submitted to the East Suffolk Council, notes that most of his garden is in front of his house and offers "little quiet enjoyment" because it isn't "private or secluded". Plans to extend his garden would have "little or no detrimental impact upon the amenity of neighboring properties," added the application.
But the 'I Don't Care' singer then made an objection to the proposed garden expansion, made on his behalf by Paul Smith, of Apex Planning Consultants. Smith said the new extension would "look out of place in the village" and "would extend the village into the countryside in an unplanned and artificial way." Smith did add that Sheeran was happy to make a compromise with Robinson on any further planned expansions. Only time will tell as to whether Robinson will eventually get what he wants.