Richard Caring, the owner of the Ivy restaurant and who is estimated to have a personal fortune of over £1bn, secured permission from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to close part of Onslow Square for two weeks so that he could complete the gardening work.
A billionaire Tory donor has won permission to close a main road in South Kensington, central London, so that he can have dozens of trees planted in the grounds of his £40m mansion.
Richard Caring, the owner of the Ivy restaurant and who is estimated to have a personal fortune of over £1bn, secured permission from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to close part of Onslow Square for two weeks so that he could complete the gardening work.
Records from the Electoral Commission’s website show that Caring is a major backer of the Tory party and has given at least £735,000 to the party since 2010. This included a £296,000 donation in the third quarter of 2015 as well as a £150,000 donation in 2019.
The council’s decision has led to uproar from local residents who have accused it of “acquiescing to the whims of a billionaire who wants a nice garden”.
Local resident David Erb told the Guardian: “It is absolutely wrong that a single man, with a huge fortune is able to disrupt the lives of thousands of people.
“They often close off the pavement as well and it’s beginning to feel a bit like we live behind a barricade.”
A council spokesperson told the paper: “Anyone can apply to us for a road closure, from residents wanting to lift heavy items into their homes to utility companies carrying out repairs and upgrades.
“While we cannot unreasonably refuse those requests, we appreciate that closures can be inconvenient and do our best to minimise any disruption.
“In this case, we publicised the closure in local media and on our website several weeks in advance and the applicant hand-delivered a letter to more than 600 homes in the area.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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