Gordon Ramsay has won a planning battle to build new gates at his £7m London mansion to ensure they are in keeping with his neighbours homes, MailOnline can reveal.
The 57-year-old celebrity chef is changing the style of his gates at his South London home. In documents lodged with the London Borough of Wandsworth Council, Gordon asked for new timber one’s instead of steel.
Gordon’s planning agents say the revised gate plans would be ‘more in keeping with streetscape and enhancing the appearance of the conservation area.’
His family home in Wandsworth, south-west London is in a conservation area, areas of special architectural and historic interest. In these areas, special planning controls are applied to developments in a bid to preserve their character and appearance.
He won permission to undertake extensive renovations to his London pad in 2021 and permission for steel gates was included at the time.
Council officials turned down a first ‘non material amendment’ application in February, which is used for very minor changes to developments. They asked him to submit a different type of application as the plans would impact the conservation area.
In the initial application, officers said: ‘Overall, the proposed amendments are considered to be material to the original planning consent, and a planning application or variation of condition application would therefore be required.’
After considering a second ‘variation of condition’ application, officials then said: ‘The proposed timber entrance gates would be the same height as the previously approved gates, and their materiality would reflect the existing gates at the property and that at the neighbouring property.
‘The proposed amendment to the entrance gates is therefore considered acceptable and would not harm the character or appearance of the conservation area.’
The documents reveal the gates ‘will match’ one of Gordon’s neighbours’ properties who have similar designed ones.
He also wanted to remove a ‘historic’ front boundary wall with another design under the plans.
It comes as Gordon is reportedly improving security at his £7million mansion to protect himself and his family, after his pub in London was targeted by squatters.
The York & Albany pub in Regents Park had temporarily closed as the chef was planning to sign over a multi-million pound lease to new partners, and it was in that time the group took over the property. They were later evicted.
Following the scary incident, Gordon hired a professional security firm to protect the house in the capital, with guards and dogs patrolling the property 24 hours a day while renovations are being carried out.
The Hells Kitchen star has been undertaking an extensive overhaul of his multi-million-pound London property, which is set to include a wine store and a master bedroom that takes over an entire floor.
Gordon’s extensive property transformation includes adding 76 square meters to their family home.
In the basement, the celebrity chef will have room for another en-suite bedroom, a study, a plant room, a boot room and a shower room.
The basement also included a glass well in the design, in order to let natural light flow through the property.
Under the plans for the South London property, the chef has also demolished his whole ground floor to add an extension with a modern glass design, which will house his open plan kitchen, living and dining room.
As well as altering the entry and basement levels of his property, Gordon is also refurbishing the second floor of his home and adding a new wall and garage.
Planning agents for the chef argue the plans would ‘create a functional layout throughout the house, allowing for greater room sizes while optimising living accommodation and opportunities on the site’.
Construction for the extension started in September 2021, but workers have been restricted to using ‘non-machinery’ tools for parts of the renovation due to the property being in a conversation area.
There was also a Purple Beach tree at the front of the home which is said to be under a tree preservation order, while other trees in the garden are in root protection areas.
A survey said demolition and excavation work should be ‘undertaken manually with hand held non-mechanical tools’ and that construction workers would need an ‘induction’ on how to work around the trees.
The celebrity chef has held meetings with his neighbours about the large-scale building works, and his representatives added in planning documents: ‘Meetings have been held with the owners to discuss the proposals and no adverse comments have been received.’
Gordon has previously won planning permission to erect two super-trendy ‘igloos’ at his London home.
The chef lodged plans in 2019 to place the log cabins in his back garden to create more living space for friends and family to stay in.
The luxury cabins, costing £40,000 each, have three outside windows, a small door and are clad in spruce shingles and plywood battens.
Meanwhile, inside, the luxury pods include a fully functional kitchen, double bed, electric heating, a shower, storage, power points and a TV cable. They are made in Estonia before being shipped to the UK.
Gordon is following a trend set by David Beckham and Guy Ritchie, who brought similar ‘igloo-style’ huts from the same Estonian suppliers and had them placed at their country homes in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.
The cabins known as the ‘Model 4’, are positioned facing each other at the bottom of the sizeable garden of the eight-bedroom Victorian home he shares with his Tana and their four older children Megan, 25, twins Jack and Holly, 23, Matilda, 21 and Oscar, 4.
Wandsworth Council gave the plans the go-ahead but advised Gordon that he had to arrange a meeting with arboriculturalists who will visit to inspect his trees.
Representatives for Gordon Ramsay have been approached for comment.
