Caring, who has built up an estimated personal fortune of more than £1bn from his club and restaurant empire, which also includes Sexy Fish in Mayfair, secured permission from the council to close part of Onslow Square for two weeks , in order to install a crane to carry the mature trees over a row of neighboring terraced houses. David Erb, who lives in Onslow Square in a property overlooking Caring’s mansion, said it was outrageous that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was “caving in to the whims of a billionaire who wants a nice garden”. “It’s absolutely wrong that a single person with a huge fortune can disrupt the lives of thousands of people,” Erb, a software developer, told the Guardian as one of the trees, estimated to weigh more than five tonnes, was lifted over his house. “They often close the sidewalk as well and it starts to feel like we’re living behind a barricade.” A large crane lifts trees over the houses in Onslow Square. Photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer The road closure is the latest chapter in a five-year battle between Caring and some of the 500 or so people who live on properties next to his Park House mansion. Plans for the house, which replaces a 19th-century country house previously owned by German industrialist heir Gert-Rudolf Flick, feature a large two-story basement. The basement itself contains a swimming pool (which can be converted into a ballroom), a beauty treatment room, hammam and summer clothing store, according to plans submitted to the council. The council has already issued an enforcement notice to Caring ordering it to remove three “unusual and dominant” windows, which it said “do not maintain the character and appearance” of the conservation area. It said it took breaches of planning rules “very seriously” and gave Caring six months to comply. A spokesman said the council “encourages[s] residents to report any concerns they may have so that we can work with landowners to investigate and fix issues quickly.” Onslow Square, which connects South Kensington tube station to Fulham Road, is used by the 14, 49, 345 and 414 bus routes, all of which have been diverted. The road is also an important thoroughfare for ambulances transporting patients to the Royal Marsden and Chelsea and Westminster hospitals. Emergency services had to be notified of the closure. A council spokesman said it “cannot unreasonably refuse” requests for road closures, but added it appreciated the inconvenience caused. The council said it had asked Caring to delay the road closure until August in order to minimize disruption to neighbors and emergency services. Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Anyone can apply to us for road closures, from residents who want to lift heavy objects into their homes to utility companies carrying out repairs and upgrades,” the spokesman said. “While we cannot unreasonably refuse these requests, we appreciate that the shutdown may be disruptive and are doing our best to minimize any disruption. “In this case, we publicized the closure in the local media and on our website several weeks in advance and the applicant hand-delivered a letter to over 600 homes in the area. We have also encouraged the applicant to carry out the work during the school holidays to avoid disruption to school traffic and have informed Transport for London and the emergency services of the planned closure.” Regarding the breach of planning rules, which was discovered by neighbors in May, the council said: “Planning regulations exist to protect neighbourhoods. We take violations very seriously and work with landowners to quickly investigate and correct issues. “We have issued an enforcement notice in this case and this allows six months from the date of issue for the developer to amend their property to comply with planning consent.” Flick has described the house as “almost a country house in central London”. Several representatives for Caring and his company Caprice Holdings did not respond to requests for comment.
