Pippa Middleton and Husband Ordered to Remove Unauthorized Car Park

Pippa Middleton and her husband, James Matthews, have been ordered by West Berkshire council to remove an unauthorized 4,000-square-foot car park they constructed on their Berkshire estate. The hard standing was built last year on a meadow at Kintbury without planning permission.

Local villagers complained to the council, citing the car park as an example of countryside 'urbanization' and describing it as 'unsightly.' They argued that the development was out of character with the rural setting.

Planners agreed with the objections, ruling in February that the car park had introduced an 'urbanizing and visually intrusive feature into a highly sensitive rural landscape within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.' Objectors also suggested the couple built the car park to hide vehicles from view near their home.

One villager wrote that the installation of the gravel area was shocking and looked like the 'urbanisation of the countryside.' Another stated the application was intended to move 'unsightly parking out of sight of the applicants... to the detriment of the residents and the heritage of Kintbury.'

Representatives for the estate claimed the car park was intended for use by fishermen and angling clubs, and was necessary because income from fishing rights supports the upkeep of the land. The couple's appeal to overturn the council's decision was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate, which found that the development harmed the rural landscape.

The meadow in question was previously known as the grazing land for two heavy horses, Monty and Drummer, before the estate's change of ownership. This is not the first conflict between the couple and villagers; they previously faced opposition after blocking a public right of way through the estate.