Wealthy neighbours go to war with £100m tech tycoon over his plans for 'vanity' 7760 sq ft Chelsea mega-basement that'll take two years to build

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Chelsea was abuzz at its annual RHS Flower Show last week as King Charles, celebrities and 40,000 daily visitors enjoyed the colourful blooms and foliage of the festival's gorgeous grounds.
But locals nearby are slinging mud at a tech entrepreneur worth £100million over his 'vanity project' plans to build a mega-iceberg basement with health spa and entertainment space.
Peter Dubens wants to build a 7760 sq ft underground personal leisure complex taking up almost 50 per cent of the area under his garden and two years to complete.
He wants to build a gigantic new floor for his £10million house including 'therapy room', bar, luxury cinema, wine cellar, two saunas, plunge pool, massage room and a top of the range golf simulator.
The controversial planning application was unearthed by The Chelsea Citizen, a new hyper local online newspaper for the area.
Some furious locals have complained to Kensington and Chelsea Council, predicting the project will cause 'un-ending havoc and pollution'.
One said: 'This is nothing more than one man's appalling vanity project.
'Mr Dubens clearly has absolutely no regard for the disruption his basement will cause. It is the epitome of opulence and arrogance. Why does one man need so much? He clearly doesn't care one jot about anyone else, nor the area in which he lives.
'But this is about far more than "NIMBY-ism". A development at this scale is entirely wrong for the area and does nothing for the public good'.
A letter of complaint sent to the council says: 'The owners of this property have already enlarged the house in the very recent past over a period of three years causing enormous disruption and annoyance to their fellow neighbours.
'Approval of another large basement scheme in this sensitive location would set a damaging precedent, undermining local and national efforts to manage flood risk, protect heritage assets, and maintain community cohesion.'
Another letter said: 'The current Construction Traffic Management Plan envisages 10 concrete mixers and 10 skip lorries a week (averaging one every two hours, with a forty minute maximum dwell time) for a period of many months.
'In other words, hundreds of vehicles will be needed to drive up a road which is too narrow to take them'.
It is set to be considered for approval in June by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Locals have claimed that last time Mr Dubens had major work done it took three years.
Critics claim that cars were damaged as well as nearby water and sewage pipes.
They have also raised concerns about potential damage to a Grade II Listed Tudor wall, dating from Henry VIII's manor house, that is part of the perimeter to the mansion's garden.
But developers have said the wall will be safe from harm.
A spokesman for Mr Dubens said in a statement to the Citizen: 'We make every effort to listen to the concerns of our neighbours. In the event that any development work does take place, it will be undertaken with due care and consideration, and in strict accordance with planning regulations.'
MailOnline also asked for a comment.
Peter Dubens is a British entrepreneur who cashed in on the colour-changing clothing trend in the Nineties.
Global Hypercolor T-shirts, which changed according to body temperature, were a must have for youngsters in the early 1990s.
Mr Dubens started his career as a chauffeur and aide to billionaire investor Joe Lewis, who owns Tottenham Hotspur FC.
In 2002 he set up Oakley Capital.
Diggers will remove the current tennis court, tonnes of soil and drill down before the basement is built. It would then be filled in and returned to being a garden
As well as savvy investments in heat-sensitive T-shirts, he also made made money from Vans trainers, Eastpak rucksacks and even smoothies.
He then went on to make more money in telecoms including from the money-spinning sales of Pipex broadband.
He also invested in Time Out magazine.
In 2019 he set up the Peter Dubens Family Foundation to support good causes, mainly in UK, in education, marine conservation, children's welfare, and health.
Away from work he loves sailing and diving and tennis, having a court in his Chelsea garden.