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| Spy writer fights for clifftop paradise | Spy writer fights for clifftop paradise |
| (4 months later) | |
| Geoffrey Gibbs | |
| Sat 24 Jul 1999 22.53 BST | |
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| Small fishing boats rest quietly on the sparkling water far below, butterflies flit from bush to bush and only the quiet hum of a mower disturbs the peace of an extensive and lovingly tended garden. | Small fishing boats rest quietly on the sparkling water far below, butterflies flit from bush to bush and only the quiet hum of a mower disturbs the peace of an extensive and lovingly tended garden. |
| But for the man better known to millions of readers as the bestselling author John le Carre, these are anything but peaceful times at Tregiffian, the Cornish coastal hamlet he has called home for the past 30 years. | But for the man better known to millions of readers as the bestselling author John le Carre, these are anything but peaceful times at Tregiffian, the Cornish coastal hamlet he has called home for the past 30 years. |
| Though his latest novel Single Single is selling well in hardback, the main focus of the writer's attention in recent weeks has been a planning row that has seen him condemned in some quarters - unjustly he insists - as an egotist and intolerant resident. | Though his latest novel Single Single is selling well in hardback, the main focus of the writer's attention in recent weeks has been a planning row that has seen him condemned in some quarters - unjustly he insists - as an egotist and intolerant resident. |
| His most recent appearance in print was a stinging letter to the local paper in which he criticised a neighbour's plans to build a house on land overlooking the Cornwall coastal footpath as a calculated assault on a precious piece of British coastline. | His most recent appearance in print was a stinging letter to the local paper in which he criticised a neighbour's plans to build a house on land overlooking the Cornwall coastal footpath as a calculated assault on a precious piece of British coastline. |
| By ironic coincidence the chief protagonist in this unneighbourly dispute is the farmer who first sold the millionaire author the cottages and barn that have been so painstakingly converted into the magnificent home that remains his continuing obsession. | By ironic coincidence the chief protagonist in this unneighbourly dispute is the farmer who first sold the millionaire author the cottages and barn that have been so painstakingly converted into the magnificent home that remains his continuing obsession. |
| Bought with the proceeds of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, when the author was seeking sanctuary during the break-up of his first marriage, it has witnessed the birth of 11 more novels, Smiley's People and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy among them, in the three decades since he moved there. | Bought with the proceeds of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, when the author was seeking sanctuary during the break-up of his first marriage, it has witnessed the birth of 11 more novels, Smiley's People and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy among them, in the three decades since he moved there. |
| At the heart of the planning row that has deflected Mr Cornwell from his latest project - a novel set partly in Africa - was an application by a local farmer, Jimmy Thomas, to build a 4,000 sq ft house and a shed to house 160 head of cattle on land some 200 yards behind the writer's property near St Buryan. | At the heart of the planning row that has deflected Mr Cornwell from his latest project - a novel set partly in Africa - was an application by a local farmer, Jimmy Thomas, to build a 4,000 sq ft house and a shed to house 160 head of cattle on land some 200 yards behind the writer's property near St Buryan. |
| The site, which cannot be seen from Mr Cornwell's house, lies within a designated area of outstanding natural beauty in a river valley that leads down to the rocky coastline. | The site, which cannot be seen from Mr Cornwell's house, lies within a designated area of outstanding natural beauty in a river valley that leads down to the rocky coastline. |
| Earlier this week a full meeting of Penwith district council rejected Mr Thomas's plans to build an agricultural dwelling. | Earlier this week a full meeting of Penwith district council rejected Mr Thomas's plans to build an agricultural dwelling. |
| But Mr Cornwell fears a decision by the council at the same meeting to allow further negotiations on the cattle shed could prove to be the trojan horse that enables the dwelling to be built. | But Mr Cornwell fears a decision by the council at the same meeting to allow further negotiations on the cattle shed could prove to be the trojan horse that enables the dwelling to be built. |
| A pressing agricultural need has to be shown to build a house in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and Mr Cornwell believes that Mr Thomas, with the help of a new livestock building, may eventually be able to convince planners he needs a house. | A pressing agricultural need has to be shown to build a house in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and Mr Cornwell believes that Mr Thomas, with the help of a new livestock building, may eventually be able to convince planners he needs a house. |
| He has vowed to continue the fight and is considering using funds from a charitable trust to help fight other intrusions of property along Britain's heritage coast. | He has vowed to continue the fight and is considering using funds from a charitable trust to help fight other intrusions of property along Britain's heritage coast. |
| Standing on the footpath be low the proposed new dwelling yesterday, the author warned that if the building was allowed it would be the only new building you could see between Lamorna and Porthcurno along the coastal footpath. | Standing on the footpath be low the proposed new dwelling yesterday, the author warned that if the building was allowed it would be the only new building you could see between Lamorna and Porthcurno along the coastal footpath. |
| The agricultural buildings that would attach to it and be the justification for it would be "a blot on the landscape". The whole of the hillside would be polluted. | The agricultural buildings that would attach to it and be the justification for it would be "a blot on the landscape". The whole of the hillside would be polluted. |
| "It makes me very cross when people say this is another bit of celebrity nimbyism, that this is my backyard. This is everybody's backyard - not just every Cornishman's backyard but every tourist's backyard who comes down here. It is of concern to everyone who walks this coastal path." | "It makes me very cross when people say this is another bit of celebrity nimbyism, that this is my backyard. This is everybody's backyard - not just every Cornishman's backyard but every tourist's backyard who comes down here. It is of concern to everyone who walks this coastal path." |
| Mr Cornwell, whose 27 acre property includes a one mile stretch of the cliffs along the path, was backed in his opposition to the building by the National Trust, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, Friends of the Earth and the Ramblers' Association, but was critical of the lack of teeth shown by such organisations in planning disputes | Mr Cornwell, whose 27 acre property includes a one mile stretch of the cliffs along the path, was backed in his opposition to the building by the National Trust, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, Friends of the Earth and the Ramblers' Association, but was critical of the lack of teeth shown by such organisations in planning disputes |
| He believed he was put in the position of having to act as a "spearhead". | He believed he was put in the position of having to act as a "spearhead". |
| The battle, in which he enlisted the help of lawyers and agricultural consultants, has given him an appetite for a wider war to protect Britain's heritage coastline. | The battle, in which he enlisted the help of lawyers and agricultural consultants, has given him an appetite for a wider war to protect Britain's heritage coastline. |
| "What I would like to do is establish, and if necessary share in the funding of, a ginger group of some sort which would watch the coastline nationwide. It would attack vocally and vigorously any abuse of the planning system, particularly through this agricultural loophole. There is a new force abroad of people who say we have built enough." | "What I would like to do is establish, and if necessary share in the funding of, a ginger group of some sort which would watch the coastline nationwide. It would attack vocally and vigorously any abuse of the planning system, particularly through this agricultural loophole. There is a new force abroad of people who say we have built enough." |
| Funding for the proposed ginger group would come from the £1.25m charitable trust set up by Mr Cornwell and his wife, Jane, to support west of England causes. | Funding for the proposed ginger group would come from the £1.25m charitable trust set up by Mr Cornwell and his wife, Jane, to support west of England causes. |
| Celebrities with trouble next door | Celebrities with trouble next door |
| John Major The former prime minister wrote to the government in February 1998, objecting to plans for a 24-hour air freight terminal development yards from his home. Protesters said the development would be used for 15,000 aircraft movements a year mainly at night. | John Major The former prime minister wrote to the government in February 1998, objecting to plans for a 24-hour air freight terminal development yards from his home. Protesters said the development would be used for 15,000 aircraft movements a year mainly at night. |
| Laurie Lee In 1995, the 80-year-old author led the successful campaign to prevent a housing development in Slad Valley in the Cotswolds where he based Cider With Rosie. | Laurie Lee In 1995, the 80-year-old author led the successful campaign to prevent a housing development in Slad Valley in the Cotswolds where he based Cider With Rosie. |
| Gary Barlow The former Take That singer and owner of a 60 acre country estate Delamere Manor in Cheshire, outraged his neighbours in 1998 by refusing to allow the Delamere Manor Fly Fishers' Club to use its trout lake. The club had fished there for more than half a century and even stocked the lake, but Barlow said his privacy was more important. | Gary Barlow The former Take That singer and owner of a 60 acre country estate Delamere Manor in Cheshire, outraged his neighbours in 1998 by refusing to allow the Delamere Manor Fly Fishers' Club to use its trout lake. The club had fished there for more than half a century and even stocked the lake, but Barlow said his privacy was more important. |
| Bernard Ingham Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary had been feudiing with his neighbours in Purley, south London, over their home improvements. In December 1998 he was accused of denting their car in a row over their use of a track to both homes' garages. He was bound over to keep the peace and the charges were eventually dropped. | Bernard Ingham Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary had been feudiing with his neighbours in Purley, south London, over their home improvements. In December 1998 he was accused of denting their car in a row over their use of a track to both homes' garages. He was bound over to keep the peace and the charges were eventually dropped. |
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