EXCLUSIVE A gate too far! Couple who lost bitter war against neighbours over Bond-villain mansion finally remove illegal barrier after failing in their attempt to create a new access route
Instead of immediately complying with their enforcement notice, Adam and Laura Drew spent a fortune building two new paths a few metres further away from their £500,000 home nicknamed the James Bond House.
The Drews hoped the new entrances to the forestry paradise would allow them to keep the 8ft-high gates and retain their privacy.
But council chiefs warned the couple to take them down this weekend - or else. Today to the delight of locals the 'gates of hell' were finally removed.
Walkers, cyclists and horse riders said they had used the path next to the sprawling 11-bedroomed property for as long as anyone can remember.
It leads to Cwmparc Forestry, a haven for wildlife and a place of natural beauty where some locals had their ashes scattered.
But a year ago the Drews bought the ugly grey house and began complaining of anti-social behaviour by people accessing the mountain.
Chartered accountant Mr Drew and his slimming consultant wife Laura, both 40, claimed they were subjected to illegal parking, dangerous driving, out-of-control dogs, people urinating, dog-fouling, aggression, theft, drugs, and people with air rifles.
They said the last straw came when torches were shone into bedrooms where their three children were sleeping.
In a statement the wealthy couple said: 'A decision was made that we needed to put security gates at our home to keep our children safe.'
Residents of Cwmparc, near the historic Welsh Valleys coal mining town of Treorchy, disputed the couple's claims and launched the
'No to the Gates' campaign, staging peaceful protests and getting up a 4,000 signature petition.
After an investigation, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council gave the Drews 30 days to take the gates down saying highway rights exist because the path has been in public use for over 20 years.
Locals looked forward to seeing them dismantled and taken away but last Sunday(June 8) the deadline passed and the gates were still standing.
It appears the Drews believed they had solved the problem by building a road on their land for fire service and other official bodies to access the mountain and a narrower path for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
Tons of chippings were laid, steel fences erected and 50-year-old conifers felled to make way for the two unofficial thoroughfares.
But campaigners want the original right of way opened up because the new road and path are not legal highways.
Richard Clarke, 57, a local businessman, said: 'We've kept this campaign as clean as we possibly can, in fact we've protected these people (Mr and Mrs Drew) by stopping some of the remarks about them posted on social media.
'I sincerely hope they do the right thing and return to us what we started off with - a legal right of way to Cwmparc forestry.'
The council agreed and gave the Drews until midnight on Sunday to pull down the gates or they would send in their own contractors.
Council leader Andrew Morgan said: 'Following the expiry of the notice served on the homeowners, Council officers are not satisfied with the current access arrangements which do not provide the public with unfettered access.
'The current unapproved arrangements do not fulfil the legal order for the gates to be removed.
'As a result, the Council requires the homeowners to remove the gates with their specialist contractors and we expect this to be done over the weekend.
'If the gates are not removed then the Council will dispatch contractors to remove them.'
Mr Morgan said diversions and changes to the highway must follow the correct legal process and rest with local magistrates.
He added: 'This remains a delicate situation and we ask that the community act responsibly. The Council is committed to seeing this through.'
This week, the quiet road has been thronging with furious villagers arriving to inspect the damage caused by the installation of the new road and pathway
Nature lover Rhiannon Evans, 49, who used to walk the mountain tracks with her three-legged dog Belle said: 'They've chopped down at least six large conifers where magpies were nesting. There are bats roosting up there too.
'They have no planning permission for what they've done and have shown utter contempt for the law and the villagers who have enjoyed the forestry for years.'
Retired probation office manager Irene Price, 77, told Mail Online: 'I'm outraged by what's been going on since these people moved here.
'If you buy a house next to forestry you can expect people to walk past. The walk up the mountain was one of my favourite things in the village. What they've done is a disgrace.'
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