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Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Net Zero tsar Ed Miliband's wife joins 'nimby' campaigners against new housing development they claim has too many 'noisy' heat pumps
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused 'nimbys' of holding Britain back – but the wife of Energy Minister Ed Miliband seems not to have got the memo. For it has emerged she has joined a neighbourhood campaign against a small block of flats being built near their £3m Victorian home. Even more embarrassingly for Mr Miliband, one of the biggest bugbears of his wife Justine Thornton's fellow campaigners is the multiple 'noisy' air source heat pumps due to be attached to the outside of the controversial development. And the Energy Secretary is leading calls for such heat pumps to be installed on ALL new buildings, even though critics point out they cost several times as much as gas boilers, which face being banned. The dispute has hit the conservation area of Dartmouth Park in liberal north London, where Turkish property developer Dicle Guntas Girman, 36, four years ago bought a 1930s detached house for £1.7m. It lies close to the elegant villa occupied by former Labour leader Mr Miliband, wife Dame Justine, 54, a high court judge, and their two sons – which previously found them accused of living a life beyond the dreams of their electorate when they were revealed to have two kitchens. Ms Girman and her company HGG London Limited have now applied to demolish the £1.7m house, and replace it with a block of flats containing six flats over as many storeys, collectively worth more than £6m. Well-heeled neighbours including actor Benedict Cumberbatch are up in arms – and so is Mr Miliband's wife. Perhaps mindful of her husband's governmental commitment to building 1.5m homes by 2030, however, her formal letter of objection to the plan insists she is not against ALL developments. It's just this one to which she is saying 'Not In My Back Yard'. Dame Justine wrote to the council: 'No objection to the principle of redevelopment into flats particularly in the context of the need for more housing. 'However, the proposed design appears to be too tall, too bulky and too dense for its plot given the context of the surrounding houses and the wider conservation area. 'The nearby Highgate Newtown residential development is a brilliant example of thoughtful design in harmony with neighbouring properties. 'This application presents another opportunity for the Council to demonstrate its commitment to the provision of sympathetically designed housing by acknowledging the benefit of redevelopment whilst rejecting this particular design.' Earlier this year Mr Starmer declared he would put 'the country's future prosperity ahead of the whims of nimbys who have been holding us back for too long', and said he himself was a 'Yimby' – Yes In My Back Yard. The developers of the flats say they could 'deliver new housing on a brownfield site in line with national and local planning policy objectives'. And Labour, in its drive to enable the building of those 1.5m houses, says it its new Planning Policy Framework redevelopment of brownfield sites 'should be approved unless substantial harm would be caused'. Mr Miliband's wife certainly has dozens of fellow opponents however, with arguments demolishing a decent house to replace it does not constitute a brownfield site, and that the block of flats would tower over the Victorian conservation area 'like a Mediterranean hotel complex'. But many are particularly vexed by the six external air source heat pumps planned for the block – just a fraction of the millions Mr Miliband, 55, wants across Britain. Neighbour Karla de Montbel objects to the development's 'increased noise as the heat pumps (6!!) are inadequate for the size and also located too close to neighbours'. And Ruth Liebling says: 'The positioning of 6 heat pumps in an enclosure at ground level would cause constant noise pollution to nearby properties as they are so near to them.' Speaking in his Government role – but perhaps not over the table in either of his kitchens - Mr Miliband has vowed to 'take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists' impeding his 'Net Zero' drive to stop Britons using fossil fuels. Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake told the Times: 'Red Ed joins the not-at-all exclusive club of 14 other serving cabinet ministers who have objected to housing developments in their areas.'
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sherlock and Homes: Benedict Cumberbatch and Ed Miliband's wife battle plans for £5.6million six storey block of flats near their north London properties
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has joined a neighbourhood bid to block plans for a new £5.6million six-storey block of flats in north London. The Oscar-nominated actor is among residents in Dartmouth Park urging Camden Council to reject current proposals to transform an existing property called Lamorna - also including former Labour leader Ed Miliband's wife Dame Justine Thornton. Cumberbatch, 48, raised concerns about the planned replacement of the two-storey, redbrick 1930s property currently standing in the district not far from Hampstead Heath. The actor, whose films include The Imitation Game and The Power Of The Dog, has a home in the area with his theatre director wife Sophie Turner. The scheme suggesting the current building be knocked down and replaced with a new six-storey block has been put forward by developers HGG London, the Camden New Journal reported. Responses both in opposition and support have been sent to and shared online by the Labour-run Camden authority which is yet to make a decision on the proposals. A report by BPS Chartered Surveyors for the council estimated the planned six new flats would be worth a total £5.6milion, ranging from £700,000 to £1.4million each. Cumberbatch's submission states: 'Approval would set a precedent. For example, could I now demolish my property and replace it with flats and not require the same extensive planning approval? 'Or worse, the properties located behind this proposal could apply to be demolished with an even bigger property that this proposal is being submitted to form a mega development.' He and his wife provided a letter arguing the new-look building would be out of keeping with Dartmouth Park's heritage. They added: 'You only have to look at the adjacent properties to see the difference in style, materials, colours and feel.' Firms behind the planning application describe it on their website as 'an exciting new residential development'. Maddox Planning, which has been working alongside HGG London, said: 'We are thrilled to present this high-quality project that will deliver much-needed new homes in a well-connected and vibrant area. 'Our team is excited to share with you the innovative proposals we've designed to truly enhance the area, making it an even more attractive place to live.' Among the other critics, however, has been lawyer Justine Thornton, who lives nearby with her husband, the Environment Secretary Ed Miliband. She wrote: 'No objection to the principle of redevelopment, particularly in the context of the need for more housing. However, the design appears to be too tall, too bulky and too dense. 'This application presents another opportunity for the council to demonstrate its commitment to the provision of sympathetically designed housing by acknowledging the benefit of redevelopment whilst rejecting this design.' Other responses sent in by fellow residents include comments such as: 'It must be more sustainable to renovate/extend Lamorna using the existing house and materials to upgrade it rather than the whole process of demolition and construction.' Another contributor said: 'The proposal is oversized, bulky, pretentious and does not fit comfortably in the street scene.' The council was also told in a different submission to its consultation process: 'I have no objections to the proposal to demolish Lamorna. It is an ugly modern house with no character. 'However, the new application to build a block of six flats plus basement is too bulky and will destroy the feel of the place. 'Grant permission if you must but restrict the new development to four floors at most to keep some sort of harmony with the neighbouring houses.' Meanwhile, Camden councillor Camron Aref-Adib said: 'I would like to share my support for some of the concerns raised by residents regarding this planning application. 'My primary concerns relate to the potential loss of light and privacy for neighbouring homes and I ask that planners look closely at such risk, seeking the appropriate mitigations. Another resident who has written in objection to the plans for is lawyer Dame Justine Thornton, pictured with her Labour politician husband Ed Miliband in May 2015 'I seek assurances that the developer will commit to the highest possible standards in minimising carbon emissions during demolition, and to high standards of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the proposed new building.' Developers HGG London have said in their application to Camden Council: 'The development is an excellent opportunity to improve the economic, social, and environmental conditions of the area and it is in accordance with the development policies on housing. 'Notably, the development will deliver new housing on a brownfield site in an accessible location.' The proposed new building would 'improve the local townscape' and provide 'much needed two bedroom and family housing provision', the company added.
