Craig Revel Horwood has been given the green light to build a luxury party terrace at his £2million country mansion – despite neighbours’ fears his ‘noisy’ garden gatherings could disturb their peace.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge sparked a backlash when he unveiled plans to raise the back garden and create an ‘entertainment area’ – complete with swim spa and hot tub – at his seven-bed riverside home.
One resident in the sleepy village of King’s Cliffe, Northamptonshire, claimed noise from the 61-year-old’s garden parties was already ‘excessive’ and feared that the new terrace would make the disturbance worse.
In a letter to the council, they complained: ‘There is already excessive noise heard from their garden when they regularly entertain.
‘The shape of the land with the trees along the river means residents can easily hear talking and noise from their gardens around the pool area.
‘Raising this terrace area will exacerbate this if no trees or noise reduction is installed along the low walls by their gates.
‘We object to the raising of this area unless some noise reduction can be installed.’
Craig Revel Horwood is pictured with his architect last year as they went through the plans for his £2million mansion
The Strictly Come Dancing judge sparked a backlash when he unveiled plans to raise the back garden and create an ‘entertainment area (picture one of the designs for the outdoor area)
The Australian-born dancer also plans to install a new gravel driveway, demolish an existing garage and turn it into a ‘meadow’, and build a new ‘recreational area’
The neighbour complained how ‘the noise that comes from their garden is already quite substantial’ and that without screening ‘we will hear all noise from this area even more clearly’.
Despite the protests, planners at North Northamptonshire council have this month waved through the scheme, ruling that it would not cause ‘unacceptable harm to neighbours’.
The decision means Mr Revel Horwood, who lives with his partner Jonathan Myring, 39, at the 160-year-old rural home, can proceed with his ambitious garden makeover plans.
The Australian-born dancer also plans to install a new gravel driveway, demolish an existing garage and turn it into a ‘meadow’, and build a new ‘recreational area’.
Cars will be moved to a new gravel drive – despite being in a flood zone where there is a ‘residual risk of them travelling over land through the garden and becoming stranded in vegetation’.
Mr Revel Horwood’s sprawling home sits in 2.2 acres and includes a lake and pond.
It also lies within a conservation area in idyllic King’s Cliffe, whose history dates back to the Domesday Book.
The TV star bought the property for £1.8million in 2021, and it is now believed to be worth around £2million following extensive renovation works.
Pictured: Inside Mr Revel Horwood’s property before the renovation
The Strictly judge, 60, previously shared footage of the renovations on his Instagram account
The kitchen area is seen before it was gutted
Mr Revel Horwood had previously won permission for major upgrades including a larger entrance hall, gym, master bedroom, butler’s kitchen, wine store and snug.
Speaking previously about the mammoth overhaul, Horwood said: ‘I’ve lived in it for four years but it took a year to know what to do with it, and then a year to get the architects to develop it, and then a year to get planning.
‘I had no intention of leaving it as it was; it was very higgledy-piggledy: the staircase was in the wrong position, the kitchen was in the wrong room, the living room would never be used as it was.
‘And it was all on different levels, which I wanted to get sorted.’
Mr Revel Horwood’s planning agent insisted the latest garden revamp would sit comfortably within the existing setting.
In a statement, they said: ‘The alterations to the terraces and levels within the garden will not appear incongruous, representing new but compatible features within what is at present a residential garden.
A design showing what the garden would look like which is posted on the council’s planning portal
Mr Revel Horwood had previously won permission for major upgrades including a larger entrance hall, gym, master bedroom, butler’s kitchen, wine store and snug
‘The proposed works have considered the site constraints and flood risk and have proposed a scheme which enhances the amenity of the dwelling and improves the existing arrangement with no impact to the conservation area.’
North Northamptonshire Council concluded that Mr Revel Horwood’s plans would ‘improve biodiversity overall’ and would not result in any loss of privacy to neighbouring homes.
