David and Victoria Beckham’s conversion plans for £12m Cotswold estate approved despite locals’ fury
26 October 2023, 18:25
David and Victoria Beckham have won a bid to convert a barn in the garden of their property into offices - despite backlash from locals.
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David, 48, and Victoria, 49, previously requested planning permission to convert a barn in their garden into three separate office spaces in their Cotswolds country retreat.
The celebrity duo also requested permission to build a bathroom, new skylights and an external timber staircase to access the workspaces.
Now the pair’s planning permission request has been officially approved, according to the DailyMail.
Currently, David uses the barn space to hold his gardening equipment, a space that featured heavily in his recent four-part Netflix documentary.
Speaking in the series, the former England Captain said: “I wanted a place where we could escape.
“As soon as I get into the countryside, I normally get into my country get-up which I'm not in now. I've got a stick, I walk around, sit out here with a cup of coffee. My favourite view of the house. I can also see Victoria if she's naked in the top window.”
David and his fashion designer wife now have three years to begin work on the property.
Despite being given the go-ahead on the new work for the property, the pair have allegedly left locals enraged over a string of alterations they’ve had to their property in recent years.
A planning application to build a greenhouse and a kitchen garden in the grounds of his home £12 million home was approved by the local council.
He reportedly wanted to build a new access road between his home and a nearby farm track away from the original road into the property while his greenhouse was being built.
But a separate application to pave a new road to the Cotswold property sparked backlash among locals who claimed the former Man Utd footballer began work before having his application approved and that he wanted to "bring in suburbia".
Some even wrote letters to the local council to complain.
One said: “I believe, as do many in the surrounding area suggest, the applicants want a longer drive into their property, rather than the short drive from the lane they currently use to have access to their property, this may be because the public have access all the way down this lane because it is a public road.
“I have been speaking to people in the business of supplying greenhouses in the United Kingdom all have said this greenhouse could be erected within a period of two to three months at the most.
“Why do the applicants require a temporary construct on access for two years on a public footpath?
“I am always amazed at those who come to live in the countryside and then want to bring in suburbia, they are not content to live in a natural country environment.”
David and Victoria reportedly fished out £6.15 million on the property in December 2016.
Since then, the property grounds have seen the addition of a sauna, a plunge pool, gym, a swimming pool, football pitch and a £50,000 safari tent.
