Lewis Hamilton has secured his first win of the season – in a planning row over trees at his London mansion. The F1 star has previously faced strong opposition from neighbours to cut and prune trees at his £18M property in Kensington.
He had faced a potential reignition of the revolt after submitting a planning application to fell two further apple trees and prune back a lime tree and magnolia that were said to be “encroaching’ nearby buildings. But under delegated powers, planners at Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea Council have now given him the green light to carry out the works – without any objections being registered.
And the news will come as a welcome relief to Hamilton, who has struggled to make it onto the podium since his high-profile switch to Ferrari this season. In a notice, sent to Hamilton’s tree surgeon Henry Twynam, the council wrote it was granting planning permission to prune both the magnolia and one lime and fell two apple trees at the back of the home.
Amanda Reid, director of planning and place at the council, said: “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will expect to see two small replacement ornamental trees such as a Japanese maples or Amalanchiers planted in like-for-like or suitable positions. The trees shall be planted in the next planting season following removal.”
Ms Reid added the reasons for the decision were “the pruning works are for routine maintenance and the apple trees have limited amenity value.” Conditions were attached to the approval stating it is only valid for two years and permitted to one pruning operation.
The council also specified no works should take place on Sundays and noisy operations unless essential should be avoided on Saturdays. Hamilton bought the home in 2017 for £18M which had previously been owned by Ben Goldsmith and his family.
On a previous application, neighbours objected to Hamilton’s plans to remove historic trees. One neighbour said: “These trees are in a conservation area and their removal will be detrimental to Kensington and London in general, which is suffering from increasingly worse air quality. I strong advise the council to reject this frivolous application, which is without merit.”
Another neighbour said: “These trees have been there for over 100 years and are part of a magnificent landscaping legacy… their possible demise over time as a result of the construction would seriously impair the value of the neighbouring properties.”
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