The local council gives a ‘prior determination notification’ so that he can construct a barn for hay and equipment despite earlier protest from neighbours
David Beckham has won his latest battle with neighbours over plans for his rural retreat. Local planners have issued a ‘prior determination notification’ which states that he can construct a barn for hay, straw and agricultural equipment – despite opposition. One exasperated local complained: ‘Why do famous people move to the country… then make silly alterations?’ The England legend was seeking planning permission for the timber-clad structure at the £6m property in the Cotswolds.
Beckham, 50, keeps bees and chickens at his country bolthole which has a giant lake. His representatives asked planners at West Oxfordshire District Council for the right to create an “agricultural storage barn for hay/straw and agricultural equipment”. Angry villager Harriet Jones had told the council in a letter of objection.
She did not name David Beckham but made a reference to ‘famous people’ moving to the country: “This is just the latest in a long line of applications to build new structures on this land, plus a giant lake. Why do famous people move out to the country and then clutter up their land with endless buildings and make silly alterations? It makes no sense.” The plans reveal the building will have a steel frame covered in wood with a metal roof which will measure 10m by 5m. Planners will decide on the merits of the application in the coming weeks. Two years ago, David and his wife Victoria were given planning permission to transform the property near Chipping Norton, which they bought for £6m in 2016.
The pair previously got into hot water with neighbours over developments.
That included a now-withdrawn application to build a second access road into their home.
Roof space in an outbuilding was also to be turned into offices.
Documents reveal the barn has been given the go ahead.
They have also been granted planning permission to construct a kitchen garden and glasshouse so that they could grow their own fruit and vegetables.
The star has just been named as the latest guest editor of a magazine long regarded as the hunting, shooting and fishing set’s house journal.
He follows in the footsteps of the King who has twice guest-edited Country Life.
He filled the role for his 65th birthday in 2013 and his 70th in 2018.
In 2020, the Princess Royal masterminded an issue on her 70th, while the Queen, as Duchess of Cornwall, marked her 75th in 2022.
Beckham is set to be knighted in the King’s birthday honours list on Saturday.
He said he was looking forward to helping to ‘produce an issue that will celebrate what the countryside and the great British landscape means to me and my family’.