It used to be a point of pride to have a famous resident living on your street, but now it seems having a celebrity in your backyard is about as welcome as Japanese knotweed. Wild parties and multiple flash cars clogging up the driveway are one thing, but it's the disputes about planning permission that seem to cause the most bother.
The most prominent culprit seems to be the singer Robbie Williams, who has reportedly infuriated his neighbours in Kensington, west London, yet again this week, after applying for permission to cut down a Norway maple tree.
Williams, 50, claims the tree is for the chop because of an infection from honey fungus, a yellow-capped species of armillaria that attacks tree roots. But the application, submitted on October 23, received an objection on Tuesday from an unnamed complainant.
They wrote: "There is no explanation as to why this tree need be felled, only a series of photos showing parts of it are damaged. Should there not be a written report that accompanies each proposed felling and what courses of action could be done before the final resort of felling this tree?"
"Tree-gate" is just the latest row in an ongoing saga between Williams, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and several of Williams's high-profile neighbours.
It all dates back to 2014, when the Angels singer snapped up Woodland House on Melbury Road for £17.5 million. Formerly the home of the late film director Michael Winner, the Grade II-listed property has more than 40 rooms, including a private cinema, Jacuzzi and ballroom-sized master bedroom.
But clearly that wasn't enough, as Williams immediately applied for planning permission to create "a contemporary family lifestyle" for himself, his wife, the actress Ayda Field, and their then two young children. The proposed works included installing a hydraulic lift and creating a new gated entrance and driveway.
But Williams's next-door neighbour, the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, complained that Williams's plans would be "catastrophic" for his own home.
Page, 80, has lived in Grade I-listed the Tower House since 1972 - he paid a reported £350,000 for it, outbidding David Bowie. Previous owners include the poet John Betjeman and the actor Richard Harris.
In 2014, Page wrote a sternly worded two-page letter to the council, stating his fear that vibrations from Williams's building work would damage his walls, which were designed by William Burges, the 19th century architect.
Williams then submitted further planning proposals, this time for a two-storey basement under his rear garden, complete with a new pool, gym and recording studio.
The rock legend wasn't the only neighbour to express concerns about noise and disturbance. Kensington and Chelsea council also received notes from local residents Charles Booth-Clibborn, the founder of art publisher Paragon Press, and Odran Jennings, the one-time member of 1990s alt-rockers Out of My Hair. Jennings even took it upon himself to hand-deliver a selection of architectural books, including a volume on Burges, to Williams's house.
"I put them in the letterbox with a very respectful note offering them as reading material... I've not had any response, but I know they've been taken as they're no longer visible," said Jennings.
The rock vs pop row escalated in 2017 when Page took Williams's builders to court, resulting in them being fined £3,000 for dismantling a shed on a Sunday. In an off-air conversation with an Italian radio DJ, Williams said: "Jimmy has been sitting in his car outside our house four hours at a time. He's recording the workmen to see if they're making too much noise. The builders came in and he was asleep in his garden waiting. It's like a mental illness."
Williams later apologised, saying that Page had "explained to me that certain specific factual assertions which I made were, in fact, not true, and I am happy to accept what Jimmy Page says".
In October 2019, Williams was finally granted permission to build his leisure complex, on the condition that significant measures be taken to prevent vibration and noise - including the requirement that only hand tools weighing no more than 9kg should be used for the work.
In September 2022, Williams's construction work finally began - until January 13 2023, when builders had to down tools. Williams was instructed by the council to apply for the deeds of his property to be legally changed in order for the building work to go ahead. This reopened the planning application, which was eventually approved in March 2023.
Williams may have won that battle, but the war was far from over. He was forced to withdraw his application to install a wooden trellis around his garden for privacy in January 2023 - a plan that drew a snarky response from a local who clearly wasn't a Robbie fan.
They wrote: "An Englishman's home is his castle, and he should be afforded his right. The general public would perhaps benefit from the fence being higher and being constructed to a sound-proofed standard."
Since then, Williams has also clashed with an unnamed complainant who opposed his plans to prune 14 plants that he said blocked light. They suggested that chopping down any trees represented "environmental vandalism", but the council ultimately approved the work.
So, are the Norwegian maple tree's days numbered? Planners from the council are expected to visit Williams' house imminently and will make a decision by December 18.