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David and Victoria Beckham have upset their well-heeled neighbours with plans to build a new access road to their £12million Cotswolds home – so they no longer have to share with the crowds that flock to nearby trendy Soho Farmhouse.
The couple have applied for planning permission to turn an agricultural track into a tarmac-laid access route to their Maplewood Barn home – which would enable them to avoid the influencer-wannabe revellers who swarm in their hundreds to enjoy the famed members club.
But the move – the latest in a long line of unpopular planning applications at their residence – has not gone down well. At least one of their neighbours has claimed the bid must be stopped because it would affect ramblers who should be ‘undisturbed by giant SUV’s lumbering up and down’.
Currently the Beckham’s mansion near Great Tew has a single lane cul-de-sac access, which also serves as the only way for visitors to drive to Soho Farmhouse; the nearby retreat is billed as a ‘rural escape’ for members who pay £250 a month to enjoy the pools, health cub and range of country pursuits on offer – including clay pigeon shooting.
During the summer months in particular, minor celebrities and media-types come in their droves to relax and network – and their flashy cars are all filtered down the same – and currently only – road that serves the Beckhams’ own private retreat.
Now it seems they have finally had enough.
The couple have applied to West Oxfordshire District Council to change the use of part of the existing agricultural track to form a secondary residential access.
They want to extend the track to connect to their existing driveway and improve dropped kerb access and gates onto Ledwell Lane.
In documents to support their application, the Beckhams say their existing access to Tracey Lane is problematic as it is a single use cul-de-sac with busy and ‘unsafe’ levels of traffic.
But the plans, which are under consideration by the council, have already been hit with local backlash.
Joan Lane, who lives in Great Tew, said: ‘I must strongly object to this proposal.
‘The house already has gone perfectly serviceable access road so why is another stretch of tarmac laid through the woods deemed a good idea.
‘Ramblers use the lane and they should be left undisturbed by giant SUVs lumbering up and down. Please do not allow this application.’
In planning documents, a representative of the Beckhams described it as a ‘modest, sensitively designed conversion’.
They argued it would ‘modestly upgrade the existing crossover and gates at Ledwell Lane for safe residential use’.
The statement added: ‘The works respond to operational, safety, and amenity needs, while being carefully designed to conserve the rural, heritage and landscape character of the area.’
The Beckhams’ representative continued that that ‘an agricultural, low-key character’ would be retained, and any lighting, if later required, would be ‘minimal’.
David and Victoria have previously been accused of ‘drip-feeding’ development at their Cotswolds home.
They have submitted multiple applications for work at their Grade-II listed country house.
Since buying the three listed barns for £6,150,000 in 2016, the couple have added a new driveway and gates, an additional garage outbuilding, tennis court, treehouse, security hut, extension to the garage outbuilding and a landscaped pond.
A decision will be made by West Oxfordshire District Council on the latest plans at a later date.
It’s not the first time the Beckhams have ruffled feathers among their Cotswolds neighbours with work on their country home.
Their man-made lake and sand bank at the property has courted its fair share of controversy among locals after planning papers were initially submitted ahead of its construction in 2020.
It’s understood that council officers have launched an investigation into the 1,000 square foot sand bank after receiving a complaint that it broke a planning agreement.
A source said: ‘Neighbours think it is totally out of character for the surrounding area and they are very twitchy around adhering to the rules.’
Bordering their enormous lake, the beach was visible between a wooden jetty and a safari tent as the couple sat tearfully discussing Victoria’s ambitions and their future together.
Yet when the kidney-shaped lake was installed, the rules were extremely specific to ensure it would ‘sit well in its rural context’.
Detailed notes and diagrams at the time said the surrounding area should be landscaped like an ‘organic parkland’, with wildflower meadows and native trees, and scrub and other plants to provide a habitat for nesting birds, small animals and insects.
The council is now investigating concerns that the beach is not consistent with what was agreed.
West Oxfordshire District Council confirmed: ‘A report of a planning breach has been received and will now be investigated.’
The safari tent near the beach was made by a firm owned by the couple’s director friend, Guy Ritchie, who was once ordered to remove similar tents himself from a lake at Ashcombe House in Wiltshire, after they were spotted in a trailer for his Netflix series The Gentlemen.
Initial plans to install their lake – a stretch of four-metre-deep water spanning 3000 square metres and surrounded by an array of wildflowers and trees – were initially blocked due to the potential impact on local protected wildlife, such as great crested newts.
At the time, the lake was the latest in a long-line of accoutrements to be built at the Cotswolds estate after they were previously awarded permission to install a secret underground tunnel, wine cellar and ‘super garage’.
The Heritage Impact Statement included in the submission stated that the proposed lake would be ‘approached and encircled by a mown grass path which will wend its way through newly created gently sloping grass meadowland’.
The planning application also set out that surrounding trees would include the likes of ‘Hazel, Oak, Honeysuckle, Bramble’ and more.
In 2023, the couple won a controversial bid to turn a barn in the garden of their vast property into offices; they had asked for permission to create three separate office spaces in the building, featuring a bathroom, skylights and an external wooden staircase.
David and Victoria’s Cotswolds home featured heavily in the former England captain’s four-part Netflix documentary where he said: ‘I wanted a place where we could escape.
As soon as I get into the countryside, I normally get into my country get-up which I’m not in now. I’ve got a stick, I walk around, sit out here with a cup of coffee. My favourite view of the house. I can also see Victoria if she’s naked in the top window.’
