It’s fair to say that little thrills the soul like a celebrity planning dispute. Who can forget heady months of Kate Garraway and Derek Draper’s contested loft conversion – a torrid tale set between the Islington planning permission department and various emotional interviews granted by Kate and Derek to OK! and the Daily Mail?
But the row de nos jours is a longrunning dispute between west London neighbours Jimmy Page and Robbie Williams, with the Led Zeppelin guitarist objecting to Robbie’s plans to redevelop his mansion, which belonged to the late Michael Winner. Twice Jimmy has successfully quashed proposals lodged with the council, claiming the redevelopment could damage his own turreted dwelling, but it now seems a done deal, with Kensington and Chelsea ruling in favour of the latest set of Robbie’s plans.
Yet is the battle truly over, or does this instead mark the start of the land war? I’d like to imagine it playing out musically over the garden fence, with Robbie crooning an unbearably breezy lift-music version of Whole Lotta Love as the diggers roll in, only for Jimmy to retaliate with a seven-hour guitar solo of Angels. It’s hard lines for the rest of the neighbourhood, of course – but that’s showbiz.
