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Rupert Grint. Picture: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Rupert Grint has won a two-year battle with neighbours to turn a £5.4 million ($A10.5 million) country estate into his very own Hogsmeade- leaving locals “utterly furious”.
The “Harry Potter” star has been given the green light to convert the 18th century country mansion into apartments, luxury homes and affordable housing, The Sun reports.
Locals fought tirelessly against Grint’s application – dismissing the notion it was an “eco-village”, insisting it was a money-making scheme.
Despite the complaints, it was approved unanimously by the committee with ten councillors out of 11 voting for it – and one abstained.
Grint purchased the property in 2009 and will now construct 15 new properties – six apartments in a conversion of the existing manor house, five detached houses overlooking a lake, and four affordable terraced homes.
There were 16 objections and a number of villagers turned up at a North Herts District Council planning meeting held last Thursday to decide the application’s fate.
Local Davina Malcolm spoke out at the meeting, calling the plans “a tragic act of vandalism”.
“This inappropriate development would herald the destruction of this semi-rural area,” she added.
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Rupert Grint has won a two-year battle with neighbours to turn $10 million Hertfordshire estate into his very own Hogsmeade. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
The private entrance road to the sprawling estate. Picture: Google Maps
Ms Malcolm, who has lived in the area for over 30 years, told The Sun she was livid that the application had been passed.
“I’m furious. I’m utterly furious”, she ranted.
Ms Malcolm said that a woodland of between 30 and 50 mature trees will have to be felled.
However, Grint’s team have stated they’ll replant trees in a different area.
“It’s not the building work, it’s the taking down of the trees I strongly object to,” she said.
“They’re saying, ‘now we’re going to take these down and we’re going to replant’.
“Why haven’t they replanted ages ago so there would be trees coming up? But they haven’t done that. It’s somewhere between 30 and 50 [to be removed].
“No one seems to take in the fact that trees drink a lot of water. If you chop them down, you will increase the risk of flooding on the south side of the estate.”
Ms Malcolm said Grint lived there for a while, as did his father Nigel, but it currently stands empty.
She ridiculed the notion that it will be an eco-village.
“He used to live here, they say it’s now empty, I’ve no idea when the father Nigel moved out”, Ms Malcolm added.
“It sounds lovely [eco village], but, to be honest, no houses in the village are sustainable because we all have cars. We all have two cars because the bus is so bad,’ says Ms Malcolm.
“Five large executive homes – it’s not eco anything. There’s the possibility that he sells the land now he’s got planning permission.”
The estate covers a huge space and is virtually invisible from the road due to the tree-lined street. Picture: Google Maps
The council was due to make a decision last summer, but the application – which was filed in October 2022 – dragged on with Grint’s team having to submit more supporting documents regarding noise, parking, drainage and trees.
Now she is resigned to the fact that she’s powerless to stop the building work, adding: “There were 16 objections and one in support when the plans went through.
“An awful lot of the villagers are totally oblivious, but when you speak to them, they’ll say, ‘Ooh, you can’t take down the trees’, but they don’t do anything about it, that is the truth.
“I found out as I was following the planning application [online], so I was aware of the meeting coming up, so I applied to object in person where you get five minutes.”
Despite her best efforts, she feels her heartfelt speech at the council meeting fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile Grint was ordered to pay a further £1.8 million in tax following a bitter legal battle with HMRC over his tax return from the 2011-12 tax year.
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Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in the first Harry Potter film Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone. Picture: Supplied
Grint was just 11 when he was cast as Ron Weasley in the Potter films and now has a reported £42 million ($A81 million) fortune and a massive property portfolio.
He bought the property in 2009 but is believed to have never actually lived there and tried to sell it for £6 million in 2018.
It boasts an indoor leisure suite with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, bar, two cinemas, a gym, games room and wine store.
The sprawling estate also includes two cottages, a staff flat, an outdoor pool, floodlit tennis courts, two walled gardens and paddocks.
It was described by estate agents as an “elegant 18th Century house requiring refurbishment, in a peaceful parkland setting”.
The main house, also known as The Lodge, will now be turned into five two-bedroom apartments and one three-bed flat.
The five new builds will include one five-bed, two four-beds and two two-bedroom homes, with three of them built around a lake.
There will also be four new two-bed terraced cottages, a new access, woodland trails, wildflower meadow, orchard meadow and natural pond.
The homes will be powered by ground source heat pumps and solar panels with green roofs and rainwater harvesting.
In his report, the planning officer said: “The development proposes carbon neutral homes and several other sustainable features that go above and beyond what would normally be expected as part of a development of this type.
“The development would therefore limit its impact on climate change for the long term. Moderate weight is afforded to this environmental benefit.”
Grint will have to pay almost £100,000 ($A195,000) towards local schools, library and youth services including an annual £10,000 ($A19,500) for maintenance of the gifted land.
Parts of this story first appeared in The Sun and were republished with permission.
