Blow for Ricky Gervais as he’s forced to STOP building incredible £5m riverside mansion after row with council

RICKY Gervais has been forced to halt plans to build a new riverside mansion over fresh flooding fears.

The Office star was in discussions with the local authority to resubmit a proposal for a new four bed £5million neo-classical home to replace a three-bedroom property in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

But new objections from the Environment Agency, with concerns on further flooding and an alleged failure to mitigate risks, has now put these talks “on hold,” Gervais' representatives have confirmed.

The current home, which sits on the banks of the River Thames, has been hit by flooding at least five times since 1947.

The After Life comedian saw a previous application – that included a detached car port and other “associated works” – turned down in September last year.

Planners at Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council said at the time it represented “inappropriate more vulnerable development in a high flood risk zone” and added it “fails to demonstrate that the development would not have an adverse impact on flood risk”.

Concern was also raised over its failure to assess the potential impact of climate change.

But in fresh objections submitted after the refusal, the EA have now raised further concerns over potential flooding from the River Thames.

And in an update from Gervais' team, it has now been revealed all plans that were about to be re-submitted have had to be put on hold.

In an email that has been uploaded to planning portal, the planning agent on behalf of Gervais wrote: “Our client would like to submit a new planning application for his house, and he was about to start a pre-application consultation with the local authority before discovering that the EA have submitted a delayed response for the determined planning application.

“All actions for the project have now been put on hold until the EA provide further clarification on their position.”

Oliver Murray, planning advisor for the Environment Agency wrote in its objection: “Unfortunately we were unable to respond before your decision was reached, however we have decided to send our comments for reference and information.

“In the absence of an acceptable flood risk assessment (FRA) we object to this application.”

He said the flood risk assessment “does not comply with the requirements for site-specific flood risk assessments and argued the proposal was “contrary” to the council's local plan on mitigating flood risk and waterways.

He added: “The FRA does not therefore adequately assess the flood risks posed by the development.”

He said the assessment “fails to take the impacts of climate change into account” or to “demonstrate the development will not increase flood risk elsewhere.”

He added: “To overcome our objection, the applicant should submit a revised FRA.

“If this cannot be achieved, we are likely to maintain our objection.”
Mr Murray said the assessment would need to “calculate an appropriate allowance for climate change” and would need to “demonstrate that any loss of floodplain storage plus an appropriate allowance for climate change can be directly compensated for to prevent an increase in flood risk elsewhere.”

The objection also stated that even if Gervais was eventually granted planning permission, he would still need a permit to begin works.

Mr Murray added: “The applicant will require a Flood Risk Activity Permit (FRAP) to undertake the proposed works as the main river, the River Thames, runs adjacent to the site. As submitted, it is unlikely that a permit would be granted.

Soap star goes on bizarre rant and slams Ricky Gervais for flaunting wealth with tennis court at £10.8m mansion

By Lottie Hulme, Senior Showbiz Reporter

A SOAP star has gone on a bizarre rant and slammed Ricky Gervais for flaunting his wealth with his tennis court.

The comedian, 63, got to work revamping the garden at his posh London home in December, and he’s got a brand new court for “one-to-one tennis coaching”; only.

But Ricky has now received backlash from a soap star after he shared a picture of the court on his social media.

The Office star posted a snap of the impressive new court, and wrote: “Played my first game of tennis on the brand new court today. A fox had already christened it for me.”;

And Jeremy Edwards, known for his roles as Kurt Benson in Hollyoaks, Danny Shaughnessy in Holby City and Mike Taylor in Millie Inbetween, had something to say.

Taking to social media he uploaded a video, and said: “I’m a huge Ricky Gervais fan, I think most of us are.

“I think his work for animal charities is fantastic and I think he’s very funny and very clever, and I’m lucky that he actually came to see me in a play in Greenwich.

“What a good guy, he came down to see the play and laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it.”;

Jeremy continued: “I follow him on Instagram and stuff like that but I could kill him right now. I could actually physically murder him.

“He just posted a picture of his brand new tennis court and Ricky, if you see this, there is a line.

“I don’t mind seeing the Dutch Barn vodka, I don’t mind seeing all the awards.

“But I am never going to have that f tennis court Ricky, and that has just tipped me over the edge.

“I am mad, I am mad as hell. Enough.”;

Ricky shared another photo of his tennis court recently, as well as flower bed, and told fans: “Flower beds planted, patio scrubbed, symmetry attained. (Think I might be a bit OCD).”;

Earlier this year, Ricky was locked in a row with his neighbours over the building of a “noisy” tennis court.

The comedian, 63, got to work revamping the garden at his posh London home in December, with locals spotting vans and construction workers outside.

As well as the brand-new court plans also include chopping down nine trees are ripping up three-quarters of the lawn.

This is despite the property – where Ricky lives with wife Jane Fallon – being in a conservation area.

Locals are particularly concerned about noise emanating from the court, Flying Eze revealed.

Complaints were dismissed by the planning officers who stating that issues like stray tennis balls and spectators are civil matters, not planning issues.

One resident said: “It is unfair and unrealistic, noise-wise. It will not only be the ball or balls being hit or bounced before serving that will be noisy.”

While a grass badminton court already exists at the property, the neighbour feared the new set-up would be bigger and louder.

They added: “If practising a machine firing balls over the net is even more noisy. The players will make noise when speaking or shouting to each other.

“A tennis court can be used for doubles i.e. 4 adults and / or children. From time to time there will be spectators watching, shouting and cheering.”

“The applicant should not assume that a permit will automatically be forthcoming once planning permission has been granted, and we advise them to consult with us at the earliest opportunity.

“The applicant would need to demonstrate that the proposed works will not adversely impact on flood risk or the watercourse.”

In its section on advising Gervais and his team, the EA wrote: “We strongly recommend the use of flood resistance and resilience measures.

“Physical barriers, raised electrical fittings and special construction materials are just some of the ways you can help reduce flood damage.”

Mr Murray said to overcome its objection, Gervais and his team would also need to submit an ecological survey to ensure measures were “realistic, achievable and would provide the level of biodiversity Net Gain required.”

In response to the claims, Gervais planning agent outlined what it claimed were several “errors” in the EA response.

They added: “Our report states that the proposed development will not result in flood water displacement as the proposals will not increase the building's footprint.”

In previous planning documents submitted for the rebuild, Gervais' agent outlined the benefits of replacing the current home.

They added: “The existing dwelling is of poor design quality, performs poorly in sustainability terms and has a disjointed internal layout.

“Any new dwelling should therefore be of high design quality internally and externally with substantially enhanced sustainability credentials.

“The proposed scheme seeks to create a high-quality, sustainable dwelling that will be flood resilient and significantly enhances its build and natural surroundings, while also providing an enhanced standard of living accommodation.

“The proposal aims to take advantage of its riverside location by maximising views to the River Thames and providing open and spacious living spaces as opposed to the smaller segregated spaces currently provided with the existing dwelling.”

Gervais, who lives with partner Jane Fallon, had submitted a flood assessment risk as part of the failed application.

Referring to the flood risk, his agent added: “‘This is a considerable increase in the ground floor level.

“Combined with the increased flood storage beneath the building footprint, decreased building footprint on site and the improvement in flood resilient measures, there will be a marked improvement in the flood risk level attributed to and from thus dwelling.

“Though the improvements do not remove this dwelling completely from flood risk, they provide a marked improvement to the safety of the occupiers, providing a significant increase in floor levels which in turn delivers more time to respond to a flooding event.”

Gervais bought the property, which is part of a wide portfolio of homes, in 2014 for £2.75m.

It's current valuation is said to be worth more than £4m.