Former England skipper John Terry has been given the go-ahead to build a massive lake next to his new mansion in Oxshott, despite it being on green belt land.
After he submitted his application to Elmbridge Borough Council last year, the Chelsea star was granted permission to build the 8.5m long by 5m wide private fishing lake in the grounds of his extravagant home.
The new addition could increase the value of Terry’s elaborate estate, which includes two large houses, from about £11m to £16m.
Terry, who lives in Queens Drive, acquired the “featureless” paddock next to his new substantial detatched property, which is still under construction, in a bid to “safeguard the outlook and view.”
The controversial footballerhad to seek planning permission from the local authority for the engineering works needed to take place in order to build the wildlife feature.
A letter sent with the application said that the lake would create a “more attractive landscape” than presently exists.
A total of seven letters of objection were received to the application, with one stating: “this is a beautiful greenbelt site and should remain as such.”
However, local authority bureaucrats gave Terry the green light to build the lake on the basis that the green belt would continue to be an open space, whether there was a lake on it or not.
Councillor Jan Fuller believed it would “maintain the openness” of the land, she said: “This is, I think – in all the years I have been involved in planning – the first time I have had an application like this,” she said.
“If anything, this could increase the amount of habitat we offer for some species.”
