David and Victoria Beckham have won permission to install 'Blackpool-style' illuminations around a lake at their £6.15million Cotswolds home – despite objections from their biggest critic who lives in Australia.
James Worthington had lodged a string of complaints against planning applications linked to the Beckhams' Grade II-listed home, accusing the celebrity couple of turning the countryside into 'Miami or Florida' with 'suburbia-style' features.
But despite presenting himself as a concerned local resident, Mr Worthington admitted in one objection letter that he had been 'working away from the UK since 2019', while giving an address in Perth, Western Australia.
The council has now waved through the Beckhams' latest planning application despite the celebrity couple installing a hot tub on the shore and a firepit on the lake's island without permission.
They have also been given the go-ahead to use non-motorised boats on the stretch of water, which their planners called a 'pond'.
This is despite the kidney-shaped lake being 4,170 square-metres and the island 122 square-metres.
An aerial view of the home of David and Victoria Beckham in Great Tew. They have won permission to install Blackpool-style illuminations around the lake
David and Victoria Beckham are pictured on their Cotswold estate. They bought the £6.15million property in 2016
In objection letters sent to West Oxfordshire District Council in 2023 and 2026, Mr Worthington accused the couple of damaging the rural character of the village and 'drip-feeding' planning applications instead of presenting a long-term vision for the estate.
He wrote: 'Yet what is proposed is more akin to Miami or Florida not Great Tew.
'If I am not amiss, this pond "lake" is in the countryside in a rural setting.
'Festooned lighting hanging along a "proposed bridge"... spotlights, is this really Great Tew or have I mistaken this area for Blackpool?
'If the applicants want to live in suburbia, then why come to an area like Great Tew?'
He further added in a comment regarding the hot tub, submitted last week.
'Hot tub appears on the new layout plan,' Mr Worthington noted, 'Maybe this is a new toy for the wildlife to have a soak after a long day trying to find food?'
In November, the couple were accused of 'abusing' the planning system by putting in at least 30 planning applications over the past decade.
Image from planning portal shows proposals at the Beckhams' home in Oxfordshire
An aerial view of the couple's plans to install developments at their home
The latest approval comes with minor conditions such as the banning of motorised boats and a recommendation not to use the firepit during the March to August bird nesting season.
The extensive lighting around the lake was approved by the ecology team despite them having some reservations.
They said in a letter: 'I would question the need for the spotlights at either end of the boardwalk across to the island, as there are also downlighters on posts, but I don't necessarily have a major issue with these, now that the spotlights lighting up the trees have been removed.'
They ignored Mr Worthington's argument that the lights could become a 'source of annoyance to people' and 'harmful to wildlife'.
The planning officer Nathan Harris disagreed, and concluded his report stating: 'Given the rural location of the site and the nature of the amendments proposed, officers do not consider that the revised landscaping or lighting details would result in any material adverse impacts on the amenity of neighbouring occupiers.
'The submitted lighting scheme has been specifically designed to minimise light spill and ecological impact, and no objections have been raised by the Council's Ecologist following submission of the amended plans.'
Earlier this year, the Beckhams won a separate planning dispute over a new driveway at the estate, allowing them to avoid sharing access routes with visitors heading to neighbouring Soho Farmhouse.
Representatives for the Beckhams have been contacted for comment.