Ex-England footballer Lee Dixon joins host of celebrities trying to block Candy Crush executive’s plans for ‘iceberg basement’ at £4m mansion
The ex-Arsenal legend and former Newsnight presenter Peter Snow are among dozens of angry residents complaining
FURIOUS celebrity residents including former England footballer Lee Dixon in an exclusive London suburb are fighting plans by a Candy Crush executive who wants to build a giant "iceberg" basement extension.
Ex-Arsenal legend Dixon, 52, and former Newsnight presenter Peter Snow are among the campaigners in Barnes opposing the massive upgrade to the plush £4 million pad.
Nick Pointon, 46, a top executive at Candy Crush games-maker King, and his wife Claire have submitted proposals for a 1,700 square feet basement below their three-storey Edwardian terraced property.
Children's author Judith Kerr and composer Howard Goodall are also complaining about the revamp.
A total of 102 letters have been written to Richmond council protesting against the scheme, first submitted in October 2015, which would increase the property's total floorspace by almost 50 per cent.
Dixon, 52, who lives on the same road as the Pointons, said: "Many houses in the area including mine are suffering from subsidence to some degree.
"I feel the digging out of basements in the area which has become frequent is contributing to an unstable foundation within the Lions Houses region."
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Mr Snow, 78, father of TV historian Dan Snow, said: "We are astonished that this application has progressed as far as it has.
"We were as shaken as other residents in this three storey Edwardian terrace at the structural damage done to these buildings by the construction of a basement next door to the applicant.
"This demonstrated that buildings in and adjacent to this terrace are built on very precarious soil and that undermining them caused unacceptable collateral damage.
"The original architects of these fine and substantially weighty buildings would be flabbergasted if they knew that anyone contemplated digging out basements underneath the houses they designed over 100 years ago.
"These houses were never built on strong enough ground to accommodate the building of basements.
"They are already very capacious period houses and the fabric of the house and of its neighbours should not now be put at risk."
Ms Kerr, 93, who wrote The Tiger Who Came to Tea, described the basement plans as "over-ambitious" and said they would affect her ability to work from home.
The 93-year-old said: "I ask the council to honour my right to a peaceful enjoyment of my home and livelihood.
"The proposed development will clearly impact negatively upon neighbours for many years to come."
Another local resident Sir Anthony Figgis, 76, a diplomat who was the Queen's Marshal, said the dig would cause disruption and noise nuisance for several years, and branded it "unacceptable."
Vicar of Dibley theme-tune composer Mr Goodall, who lives nearby, claimed damage was caused to three properties in the road when another neighbour excavated a basement of similar size in 2009.
Planning officers have recommended the proposals for approval when they go before councillors next week.
The officials said the plans "have been amended in an acceptable manner to address officer and neighbour concerns, in particular with regard to flood risk and impact on neighbours."
But Mr Pointon, 46, who is currently on sabbatical from his role as vice president of finance for King, the firm behind hit mobile game Candy Crush Saga, said he had been 'unfairly targeted'.
He said: "We bought a house next to a property which already had a basement in the reasonable expectation we could add a basement to our own home.
"We have been unfairly targeted by a coordinated neighbourhood campaign driven by the fear that the way they remember previous basement work would be repeated.
"We want to set the standard for all basement construction in Barnes and we have demonstrated it through the planning process.
"This is the most thorough basement application ever put in."
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