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Kate Middleton’s sister Pippa Middleton and her brother-in-law James Matthews are at odds with their neighbors. The couple purchased country estate Barton Court in Kintbury, Berkshire in 2022, where they live there with their three children, Arthur, Grace, and Rose, and recently built a six-space parking lot on an open meadow on the property. However, the car park was constructed without planning permission, so after losing an appeal to keep it, they have to dig it up.
The ruling said the car park “does not conserve the landscape and scenic beauty,” and introduced “an urbanising and visually intrusive feature into a highly sensitive rural landscape within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape,” according to the Independent. One neighbor’s complaint said, “Ample parking already exists on the Barton Court estate. Additional parking is unnecessary. This application is to move unsightly parking out of sight of the applicants on entry to the Barton Court estate to the detriment of the residents and the heritage of Kintbury.” Another said it would “worsen flooding,” and yet another complained it was an “eye sore” and a “brutal interruption of the bucolic scene.”
The couple’s appeal to keep their parking lot was rejected by West Berkshire Council at the end of July. “The applicant has not shown how the development contributes to the long-term viability of the wider agricultural business, nor why the existing parking provision in the vicinity cannot reasonably accommodate the angling activity,” planners ruled in February, a verdict which the appeal upheld. “The proposal, therefore, results in landscape harm without clear agricultural justification.”
The couple’s planners wrote in their retrospective application that “the hard surface is sufficient to park up to 6 cars and will only be used seasonally,” and was needed after new parking rules were introduced for a small station car park opposite the entrance.
This Pippa and James’s second dispute with their neighbors in the last few years: they have also argued over a public footpath on their estate, saying it was actually private property. The couple claims the public footpath “never” existed, and it “would cause very real practical/privacy difficulties and security issues” if it was recognized as such. A decision is expected this month.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.