THE LAST STRAW
Ed Sheeran angers neighbours AGAIN as singer uses ‘hay bales to keep £500k swimming pond secret’
ED Sheeran has upset his neighbours again after they claim he's using hay bales to stop people seeing he's using a "wildlife pond " as a swimming pool.
The 28-year-old singer’s neighbours were angered after aerial pictures of his Suffolk estate showed he had built what look like steps, a changing room and a jetty to dive off.
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They complained after they claimed he was turning the area into what they believe is a party pool for him and his celebrity friends.
The pop superstar has now placed a fence around the one side of the pool which was visible from the lane that runs alongside.
The 8ft high fence consists of three bales on top of each other and has been built using support poles and with all other angles hidden by a hedge.
"It all seems very strange but in actual fact it appears to have been very carefully thought through," one neighbour
“The bales have been placed precisely in the right places and at the right angle to shield his pool.”
Sheeran’s planning application for the pond said it was to “support nature conservation… providing a natural habitat for breeding and wetland invertebrates such as dragonflies and water beetles, as well as providing a source of drinking water to birds and mammals.”
MAKING HAY
In 2016, officials made it clear the pond would have “no other uses” and that it definitely would not be used for “recreational leisure such as swimming.”
East Suffolk council gave permission for the jetty and steps after they were “to enable access to the pond in the event of maintenance and emergency.”
But Sheeran’s neighbours were convinced they are for a swimming pool and wrote to planning officials to complain.
One, Tony Robinson, said: “I believe that the development of the site is more about creating an environment for a ‘wild lifestyle’ rather than the actual ‘wild life’.”
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Kenny and Carol Cattee, who have complained previously about loud music on the estate, said: “The so-called wildlife pond would now appear to be more like a swimming pool, which is somewhat different from the application.”
The jetty and steps were added by Gartenart, a company that calls itself “the UK’s leading swimming pond and natural swimming pool provider.”
Last year, it was revealed that Sheeran, who has an estimated fortune of £40 million, extended his Suffolk estate by buying two more large houses in the local village.
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His estate now includes four large houses, an indoor swimming pool, a four-room treehouse and an underground “man-cave” complete with personal cinema and music room.
The singer also made headlines last year when his application to build a 24-seat Saxon-style chapel on the estate was rejected out of concern it would endanger a colony of great crested newts.
Sheeran’s representatives have been approached for comment.
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