02-06-2025
Tycoon's mega basement plan sparks fears of floods in Chelsea
A millionaire private equity mogul's plans for a luxury bunker under his Chelsea town house have sparked fears of floods and gridlock in the area.
Peter Dubens, the founder of Oakley Capital, is seeking planning consent to build a 721 sq metre basement under the back garden of his £10m home in west London.
The concrete-lined basement complex would include a bar, plunge pool, wine cellar, massage therapy room, gym and golf simulator. There would also be two saunas, one of which would be infrared.
However, his plans have been fiercely opposed by a group of Conservative councillors who have raised concerns about an 'unacceptable flood risk' from the works, citing their potential to displace groundwater in an already 'high-risk' zone.
Construction is also expected to require more than 400 tipper lorries, leading to concerns over the 'gridlock and safety' issues.
The councillors, who represents residents in the Chelsea Riverside and Royal Hospital areas, said the basement's construction would have an 'excessive and hazardous' impact, in a letter of objection filed with the council.
A group of Mr Dubens's neighbours are also resisting the proposals, which were first reported by local news publication The Chelsea Citizen.
One resident called the plans 'outrageous'. Another criticised it as a 'long-term vanity project' installing features that 'may be desired but are unnecessary as the present owners seem not to be in situ very often'.
The luxury bunker would stretch underneath an all-weather tennis court in the garden, which sits within a conservation area.
An existing pool house on the premises would be replaced with a bigger one, connecting to the underground spa, while an extra basement kitchen would be installed.
One resident complained in a letter to the council: '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.
'They have now applied for a major underground new build into the originally Elizabethan Garden from which the tenants in the square benefited ... It is unimaginable what chaos will ensue.'
Another neighbour wrote: 'Hundreds of vehicles will be needed to drive up a road which is too narrow to take them. This is an unacceptable risk to the property of the residents.'
A spokesman for Mr Dubens has previously said: '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.'
Mr Dubens made his name selling colour-changing T-shirts in the 1980s. Throughout the 1990s, he sold clothes to businesses such as C&A, Marks & Spencer and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia empire.
Once a major Tory donor, he went on to invest in several businesses, including Time Out, which he floated on the London Stock Exchange, and model Alexa Chung's fashion label. He set up Oakley Capital in 2002.
