Houses of the Holy

Jimmy Page wins planning dispute with neighbour Robbie Williams

In a victory for common sense this week, former Take That singer Robbie Williams has withdrawn his plans to create an ‘iceberg extension’ at the £17.5 million Holland Park home he purchased from the estate of the late Michael Winner in 2013.

Fiercely opposed by his neighbour, guitarist and Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page, Williams’ plans included a new garage block and a 3,600 square foot two-storey sub-basement to house such facilities as a recording studio and a swimming pool.

In a letter of objection to the planning department of Kensington & Chelsea Council, Page commented:

“Similar schemes have been carried out on other properties in the area locally — and each time the level of vibration cause during the works has caused concern about the effect on decorative finish in The Tower House [Page’s Grade I listed home since 1972]. The work now proposed to Woodland House [the new residence of Robbie Williams] is much nearer than other major excavations carried out so far, and the consequences for the building fabric and decorative finish of The Tower House may well be catastrophic if this project is allowed to proceed”.

In a report in yesterday’s Mail Online, it was revealed that the three month dispute that followed has now ended with victory for Page after Williams withdrew his application. This battle was not a clash of the titans but in fact a victory for the Houses of the Holy. We salute Jimmy Page for standing up to stop what would have been yet another monstrous example of the desecration of a historic London residence.

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