Latest news with #JustineThornton
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Ed Miliband's neighbours in uproar over heat pump noise fear
Six 'noisy' heat pumps are at the centre of a neighbourhood row involving Ed Miliband's wife, The Telegraph can reveal. The energy secretary is spearheading the mass adoption of heat pumps and has a target of installing 600,000 a year in Britain by 2028. However, dozens of Mr Miliband's North London neighbours have objected to a planned five-storey block of flats over noise pollution concerns related to the heat pumps included in the designs. Mr Miliband's wife, Justine Thornton, is among those to object to Camden Council about the development in Dartmouth Park, a wealthy suburb in the Prime Minister's constituency. Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch has also opposed the plans. She previously called the design 'too tall, too bulky and too dense', although she has not commented specifically on the inclusion of heat pumps. But the eco devices come up several times in objections lodged by neighbours and published on Camden Council's website. Local resident Kim Roper said: 'The inclusion of six ground-level heat pumps near adjoining residences raises serious concerns about long-term noise pollution.' Jerome Gautrais similarly raised concerns over 'noise pollution risks from six external heat pumps close to living spaces.' Katrina Silver said: 'Six noisy heat pumps and space for bicycles is simply 'greenwashing'.' Mr Miliband has already been left red-faced by his wife's involvement in the so-called 'Nimbyism' row over the flats as it goes against the Labour's repeated promises to end 'challenge culture' whereby communities block new developments. Sir Keir Starmer previously pledged to 'take on the Nimbys.' But, the latest revelation offers fresh embarrassment to Mr Miliband, who has sought to quash anxieties around heat pumps and even has one installed in his own home. Air source heat pumps, which are positioned outside a home, can produce a low constant hum of between 40 and 60 decibels, which is similar to the level of noise made by a fridge or dishwasher. They will typically run continuously throughout winter. A noise impact assessment by ALN Acoustic Design found that it would be possible to achieve a low level of noise at the Dartmouth Park development. It said it would 'avoid causing any significant impact at the neighbouring residential properties.' But, resident Harry Raikes called the noise impact assessment 'inadequate'. He added: 'It does not properly evaluate the potential for continuous or intermittent noise, particularly affecting neighbouring gardens and internal living spaces. 'Without robust mitigation measures and clear assurances that noise levels will remain within acceptable limits, this element of the development poses a risk of ongoing noise pollution, further impacting residents' quality of life.' It comes months after The Telegraph revealed that Parliament paused a planned rollout of heat pumps amid concerns over their noise and effectiveness, Camden Council and the Energy Department were approached for comment.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The nimby row engulfing the ‘two-faced' Milibands
If you were going into battle with developers wanting to build a five-storey block of flats on your street, you'd imagine it might be helpful to have one or two celebrities living in the neighbourhood willing to throw their names behind the campaign. Better still if one of them is in the Government. It might become awkward, though, if that particular neighbour happens to be the Secretary of State with oversight of green energy development, whose party is theoretically on a mission to build 300,000 new homes a year. A row has broken out in Dartmouth Park, an affluent north London enclave which is home to Benedict Cumberbatch and Ed Miliband, about plans to build a block of flats. A developer has filed plans for a block containing a small number of apartments, claiming the project would bring new homes to a brownfield site. But the proposed structure would stand taller than existing, surrounding properties and, as a result, residents have deemed it an eyesore. Many consider it to be too big, too intrusive, and not keeping with the style of properties in the area. Among those objecting is Dame Justine Thornton, Mr Miliband's wife, who voiced her concerns in a letter to Camden Council. She described the proposal as 'too tall, too bulky and too dense for its plot given the context of the surrounding houses and the wider conservation area'. On a sunny Tuesday morning, it's hard to imagine the residents of Dartmouth Park can have too many complaints about where they live. This is something of a middle-class utopia. There is a yoga studio, a deli, an organic wine shop, and an independent butchers on the Milibands's and the Cumberbatches's doorsteps, plus a pub that'll do you a £25 ox cheek and a contemporary rug shop with a sign on the door that urges you to 'use colour to change space'. The housing stock mostly consists of well-maintained, period, privately-owned homes. Many of the houses on the street where the development has been proposed boast four floors and large gardens. There appears to be more wisteria plants than there is social housing. Though the planning row might be a local issue, it's sure to be of interest to Sir Keir Starmer – firstly because it falls in the Prime Minister's constituency, but also because it rather goes against the Labour leader's assertion that Britain needs to be less Nimby, more, as he would put it, 'yimby'. Sir Keir's plan for growth has long centred on his push for new homes. In 2023, he told the BBC his policy was very much 'yes in my backyard', saying he would 'bulldoze' restrictive planning rules, overrule local MPs to build more homes, and restrict councils from stopping developments on under-used urban land. Labour would, he said, get the 'balance right' between the need to build housing and local concerns about developments. Georgian-style town house blocks were to be the thing. 'Gentle urban development' of four to five stories. To give the developers of the Dartmouth Park site their due, the design doesn't look a million miles from that description. A futuristic interpretation of a Georgian town house, perhaps. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister doubled down on his pledge, writing in The Times that he planned to put 'the country's future prosperity ahead of the whims of Nimbys who have been holding us back for too long'. Angela Rayner is now spearheading the Prime Minister's promise to build 1.5 million homes. The developers in Dartmouth Park argue their block would 'deliver new housing on a brownfield site in an accessible location in line with national and local planning policy objectives'. They have said their plans are 'in line with the priorities' of Labour's updated planning guidance. The Government has said brownfield schemes 'should be approved unless substantial harm would be caused'. You can see, then, why Ms Thornton's intervention does seem to contradict Labour's grand plans. Mr Miliband himself has pledged to 'take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists' who he deems to be standing in the way of his green energy development drive. But do the same rules apply when it comes to his own street? The average house price in the borough is £810,000, while the council says there are currently more than 7,600 households on the social housing register. In the street where the development has been proposed, a property sold in January for £3.7m. Mr Cumberbatch, who declined to comment, and his wife Sophie Hunter, an opera director, said in a joint letter to the council that the development would 'disrupt the aesthetic' of the neighbourhood. 'The approval of this planning would set a precedent for the area,' they wrote. When you speak to people on the street itself, it's the height and heft of the planned block that seems to be at the centre of the issue. A little further afield and it's the building's purpose which is the more pertinent problem. 'There is vastly insufficient social housing in this area,' says one resident who has lived in the area for over 30 years. For her, it isn't the style of the building that troubles her so much as the likely make-up of any future residents. 'Camden needs far more social housing than it's got. I would be very unhappy about any development that isn't affordable. I want proper social housing. 'Now, people in this area won't like that because they're all rich, but tough – we need it.' Outside Truffles delicatessen, two long-time local residents, a retired librarian and retired charity executive who asked not to be named, are enjoying a coffee. Their concern, too, is the need to combat the borough's housing problems. 'Most people around here are Labour Left orientated, but come something like this happening…' she shrugs. Her friend chimes in: 'Well, they're champagne socialists,' he says. 'We've got such a level of homelessness and yet renting and buying is still unachievable for people and no social housing is being built.' A source close to Ms Thornton, a High Court judge, has said that in her submission she 'made clear she had no objection to the principle of new housing on the site. She was referring to a specific design.' But critics of the Milibands have been quick to accuse the family of standing in the way of boosting Britain's housing stock. (Mr Miliband himself did not add his name to the objection submitted by his wife and has made no public comment on the proposed development). 'Red Ed joins the not-at-all exclusive club of 14 other serving Cabinet ministers who have objected to housing developments in their areas,' Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow Housing Secretary, said. 'Incredibly, the Energy Secretary has pledged to 'smash the Nimbys' but, as ever with Labour, this is just another case of do as I say, not do as I do.' Speak to people on the street itself and the feeling is unanimous – the proposed building isn't right for this neighbourhood. 'We're hugely against it,' says one resident. 'It's massively overdeveloped. It's a very small site and it's a bigger building than any of the others. It's going to be taller than any of the other buildings. The developers must be some of the greediest developers ever with no sense of community at all and the surrounding area.' Another resident, Portia Holmes, 64, a doctor who has lived on the street for 33 years, says it is purely the height she objects to. 'I don't even mind if they produce something that's exciting and modern, but just not too tall.' And if it were social housing? 'I'm happy for them to build social housing if they want. [...] This is a money spinning exercise – there's nothing noble about it at all.' Some eyebrows on the street have been raised at the more famous names throwing their hats in the ring. 'I get it,' says one resident, chuckling at the idea of the Energy Secretary's wife blocking the build. 'I understand. The irony is not lost on me.' Still, he says, 'it's not right to build something that is going to completely impinge on other people's homes'. A resident in the street behind, whose house stands to be overlooked by the new property, admitted to seeing the irony. 'It's the best joke going around.' Nevertheless, he agrees with her and has made his own submission to the council. 'All the privacy would go. It's really got a very serious impact on us.' At 83, he has lived here for 45 years. He doesn't approve of the way the developers, HGG London, who declined to comment, have referred to the site as brownfield land, invoking Labour's own language around the need to use urban spaces. They argue it will deliver 'much needed two bedroom and family housing provision' in the borough. But it certainly isn't an industrial wasteland – there is a two-storey, 1930s red-brick house already on the site. 'This nonsense with using the terminology brownfield which would normally suggest there has been some industry here, which there certainly hasn't.' While much of the community is in agreement, some tension has arisen around the house currently on the site, which is rented out to a young family. The family didn't want to be named or to comment on the proposed development, but said one local resident objecting to the build had made things difficult for them, assuming they own the property and trying to urge them to get involved in the campaign to block the planned new building when they are in no position to do so. Recently, their nanny was stopped in the street by a man who was 'shouting at her in an accusatory manner, expressing his objection towards the proposed development'. A few streets away, Kyle Donaldson, who has lived in the area for eight years, ponders the design for the block of flats. Does he consider Ms Thornton's intervention to be somewhat ironic? 'Kind of. It's a bit two faced.' He pauses. 'But if I lived on that road I would probably agree with her.'
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
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Miliband v Miliband: Energy Secretary's High Court judge wife turns nimby over new flats - after Ed vowed to 'take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists'
Ed Miliband's wife has come out against plans for a new block of flats near their £3million family home despite her husband's pledge to 'take on the blockers and obstructionists'. Justine Thornton, a High Court judge who is married to the Energy Secretary, wrote to Camden Council in relation to the five-storey building earmarked for land near her north London house. It comes despite Mr Miliband previously vowing to put the 'delayers' in their place as part of his green energy and housebuilding agenda. His party's deputy, Angela Rayner, is also currently spearheading the Government's efforts to overhaul planning rules to build 300,000 new homes a year. And the Labour Party said it planned to designate some previously untouched greenbelt land as 'grey belt' so they could build more houses across the country. But Ms Thornton said in her objection the proposed design was 'too tall, too bulky and too dense given the context of the surrounding houses and the wider conservation area'. She claimed she had 'no objection to the principle of development, particularly in the context of the need for more housing'. However, other notable figures in the well-to-do area, including actor Benedict Cumberbatch, have said they fear the new development could open the gates for an influx of construction projects. Mr Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter, an opera director, raised concerns around privacy and added the redevelopment would 'disrupt the aesthetic of the street and its [Victorian] architectural heritage'. In a joint letter, the couple said: 'The approval of this planning would set a precedent for the area.' They are among a number of householders to turn against the proposal, which would result in a 1930s villa being replaced. The flats' developers have relied on Labour's updated planning rules to argue extra homes are needed and that local objections should not stand in the way of houses on brownfield sites. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also been vehement in his criticism of 'nimbys' and 'blockers' describing himself as a 'yimby' - yes in my backyard. HGG, the property company behind the scheme, said that the block would 'deliver new housing on a brownfield site in an accessible location in line with national and local planning policy objectives', stressing it is 'in line with the priorities of' updated planning guidance introduced by Labour last year. In its planning policy framework, Labour said brownfield schemes 'should be approved unless substantial harm would be caused'. Ms Thornton, 54, married Mr Miliband, 55, after meeting him in 2002 and they currently live together in their North London house. The pair have two sons, born in 2009 and 2010. Having practiced as a barrister for 25 years, Ms Thornton was later appointed a judge. She was called to the Bar in 1994 and made a KC in 2016, specialising in environmental law. A source close to Ms Thornton said: 'Justine Thornton made clear she had no objection to the principle of new housing on the site. She was referring to a specific design.' But Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, said: 'Red Ed joins the not-at-all exclusive club of 14 other serving cabinet ministers who have objected to housing developments in their areas. 'Incredibly, the energy secretary has pledged to "smash the nimbys" but, as ever with Labour, this is just another case of do as I say, not do as I do.'
Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Ed Miliband's wife turns nimby over plan for flats near London home
Sir Keir Starmer's government may have declared war on nimbys in pursuit of economic growth, but it could lead to awkward conversations at home for some in the cabinet. Dame Justine Thornton, the wife of the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has objected to the construction of a new block of flats near the family home, claiming it is 'too tall, too bulky and too dense' for their north London neighbourhood. Thornton said that Camden council should send developers of the five-storey block near their £3 million Victorian home back to the drawing board. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch is among dozens of residents in Dartmouth Park, near Starmer's north London constituency, to protest that the proposed building is not in keeping with the area's Victorian houses.
