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| Old Court House |
You live within a mile of The Old Court House, Walton Street?
Then be very frightened!
Then be very frightened!
David Graham, the bachelor billionaire Canadian owner of this 10,000 sq. ft plus mansion has decided that he needs even more square footage.
One of his gofers has written a greasy letter to neighbours telling them he plans to dig out a massive basement.
This will house a gymnasium; a media room (?) a replacement swimming pool and yet another kitchen(3 in total!) and storage.
So, Dave, what happened to the ballroom that you were obsessing about last time round? Are you no longer putting yourself up for Strictly Come Dancing?
The Dame is going to be blunt. Dave used to be married to that ghastly witch, Barbara Amiel. She then latched on to fellow Canadian, the unpleasant crook ‘Lord' Black.
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| Lady Grim |
Had Dave still been married to this ‘monstress’ we could appreciate she needed the extra storage space for her fabulous shoe collection-reputed to be several thousand pairs strong.....
......Dave is a near eighty-year-old singleton. For tax reasons he spends just ninety days a year in London; the rest of the year at one of his several other homes dotted around the world.
So why does he need to make neighbours' lives hell for two years when he has ample space within the existing 12 bedroom 'mansion'?
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| Money Lover |
The answer? Money.
It will cost £400 per sq. to do the digging adding a further £3,000 per sq.ft when he sells the building on.
So, if he adds another several thousand sq.ft the arithmetic is obvious
It will cost £400 per sq. to do the digging adding a further £3,000 per sq.ft when he sells the building on.
So, if he adds another several thousand sq.ft the arithmetic is obvious
His letter, addressed ‘Dear Neighbour’, was not even signed by this self-important and self-interested man: someone he calls his ‘colleague’, a Mark Brown did the signing.
In his letter, Graham gives the impression RBKC officers are somehow supporting his application and have agreed that the vast number of construction lorries can travel down Walton Street and then into Pont Street.
Cleverly, Graham forgets to mention that the lorries will also go thundering down an already congested Beauchamp Place or on down Pont Street and into Sloane Street.
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| Beauchamp Place Graham Rat Run |
This will be a massively disruptive project for thousands of residents.
It will also coincide with the demolition of the Police Station in Walton Street with yet more construction lorries.
The chaos will create hellish conditions for residents and businesses for the foreseeable future.
Beauchamp Place will be hit very hard.
Mr Graham, you have all the space you need. Your proposal is un-neighbourly and unwanted.
It will be fought tooth and nail and your suave blandishments count for nothing.
Oh, and by the way, Graham’s tightfistedness is shown here. He lists the major shareholders of Cablecast as himself, at 99.1%, and his oppo, Neil Bambrough, with 0.1%....
Mean sod!
If this silly man needs all this space why choose to live in the village like ChelseaHe would be better off amongst his nouveau riche crowd in North London
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am totally against this development for many reasons. I find the undertone of anti semitism in your remark offensive. Any racism on this blog really does lower the tone of the argument, is totally unnecessary and is off putting.
DeleteDon't be such a twit...
DeleteThis chappie Graham is a Roman Catholic! And, North London is full of rich Greeks, Jews, Turks, Indians etc who want massive show off homes to prove they have made it.
Don't be so bloody idiotic looking for offence where is doesn't exist
Eh what anti semiticim. I think your missing the point by a country mile. Another buy to leave investment property with nil regard for the community. Property developer dinosaurs like you will be history in 5 years . There is more to a town than new uber houses.
DeleteA roman catholic. I don't think so. He may think he is but a wealthy man never entered the kingdom of God. He's as much a roman catholic as a bacon sandwich is to Judaism.
Delete"The nouveau riche crowd in North London" is coded anti-Semitism, as I am sure you all know.
DeleteHave yet to review the plans available on RBKC site but the last time this was mooted this involved 20 movements of huge HGV lorries between 09.30 and 16.30 per day. All now entering and exiting Pont Street. 2 years (minimum) of chaos for residents and buisness as he does major excavation and engineering work. All supposedly for the sake of a "media" room (is that a cinema ?) a replacement swimming pool and as I understand it a third kitchen. For a house that is occupied by the owner for far less than 90 days a year.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point of paying local tax if we have nowhere to park and services below par.
ReplyDeleteWe need indepdents to stand in 2018 to get councillors to do their job.
Indeed ... it is now for the majority of residents to speak up and throw the Tories out from this Rotten Borough...
Deletesadly, as likely to happen as their blinkered supporters ever saying "serviette", "settee", "toilet" or "that nice Mr. Corbyn from Islington" (not that they'd have the foggiest where Islington is.)
Deleteyou are obviously an oik
DeletePlease don't don't use the word serviette it's worse than the C Word.
DeleteThe guy is a scumbag
ReplyDeleteIf he needs more space, why doesn't the billionaire octogenarian vulgarian Canadian buy Saskatchewan? Oodles of acreage.. and only elk and caribou as neighbours to put through torture there.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about one Canadian Billionaire it's about all unnecessary, detrimental building that's going on, demolishing buildings, houses completely or behind facades to get yet another bedroom, media rooms, swimming pools etc, 100s of polluting lorries, noise, traffic jams for the benefit of one and ruining life for the rest of us. It's no good endlessly allowing this development with absolutely no public benefit just because it within the parameters of what is acceptable within olanning regulations and is not harmful to the conservation area and that CTMPs are acceptable. The majority would like to see this controlled so there is very little point in constantly consulting on local plans and vision if this cannot be addressed. We a local plan and vision that puts a stop to this in the majority of cases. The pollution has reached unbearable levels as have the number of building sites all over Kensington and Chelsea, yet Doctors surgeries are closing and community facilities disappearing. It was wonderful between Christmas and New Year, no lorries, building work, clear blue skys no pollution.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservative party just doesn't seem to get it; we are fed up having our borough dug up, blocked for private ventures. With nowhere to park, our cars towed and ticketed. Just look over at Barnes and the Candy crush vulgarian having his iceburg basement approved.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/celebrities-fail-bid-stop-candy-9618250
It's an outrage! I don't think there has ever been a time when residents in this borough and city are on the same page and have the same feelings towards those in the council.
The only thing they will understand is being voted out. With only an average of 30% of voters turning up at local elections in the borough, every ward could be overturned just by getting 10% more voters turning up, it would destroy their strangle hold. Maybe, just maybe some proper work could be done.
The rape of our community!
ReplyDeleteIt's got to stop !
ReplyDeleteEnd of Conservatives in RBKC. Complacency in all quarters. Tim Coleridge has nothing but disdain for those who disagree. Well fed nambys like him are destroying our community. Time he packed his bags and moved out of the inner city which he so derides
ReplyDeleteAs ye sow so shall ye reap .
ReplyDeleteColeridge not a nice man - liar.
ReplyDeleteThe brexit result and worse still the election of Donald Trump has demonstrated that anything is possible.The Conservatives even now beyond complacent believing that "Corbyn is unelectable" anything can happen,even more so in local elections. Perhaps the level of anger that Mr Graham's latest development application has stirred up will unleash a backlash that will see those Conservative supporters of these grotesque schemes brought to heal.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we are leaving the EU, still cant get any answers why to stay in this white mans club!
DeleteGuys like this, and speculative developers generally, need to consult carefully with real estate advisers. Gone are the days when rabbit holes deep under the streets of London are valued at the same multiple as normal square footage. These underground hovels are sharply discounted given they are dark, dank, musty and miserable. The math simply doesn't work anymore and developers commit financial suicide with these projects in the current market (much less the market four years out when these are completed)
ReplyDeleteif you are serious about displacing the Tories you need to get your act together now. Waiting until the election is called in 2018 is far too late
ReplyDelete