Neighbours of Ed Sheeran have described the singer’s so-called wildlife pond as ‘a sham’ after he filmed himself leaping into it for a swim.
One angry villager accused the Shape of You star of ‘taking the mick’ after insisting to council officials that his water feature was a wildlife pond rather than a swimming pool.
ABOUT THE POND
Sheeran had been granted consent to excavate the pond in the centre of a field which he planted with trees on his rambling £3.7million estate in Suffolk.
He stated in planning documents that the kidney-shaped pool would ‘support nature conservation’ and provide ‘a natural habitat for insects, amphibians and birds’.
Sheeran added a jetty and steps in 2017, leading to council staff making it clear it should not be used for ‘recreational leisure activity, such as swimming’.
But his immediate neighbours Kenny and Carol Cattee complained at the time: ‘The so-called wildlife pond would now appear to be more like a swimming pond.’
Suffolk Coastal District Council investigated the site in 2019, and concluded that there had been no planning breach.
A council spokesman said: ‘There was no evidence that it is not a wildlife pond, as plants are growing in and around it, or that the planning conditions had been broken.’
Sheeran was later successful in removing the ban on swimming and other leisure activities in and around the pond, after arguing it was unreasonable and unnecessary.
But some of his neighbours have now been upset by him posting a video on Instagram showing him jumping off the jetty and swimming in the pond.
WHAT NEIGHBORS THINK
A neighbour who asked not be named said he had previously heard ‘yelling and splashing’ from the pond, suggesting Sheeran and his guests were swimming in it.
He said: ‘I’m not particularly happy about what is going on. You can actually hear him around the pond.’
READ ALSO – Mother who made up to £38,000 as an unlicensed puppy breeder was FORCED out of her home twice due to abuse
When shown the video of Sheeran in the water, he added: ‘What you have shown me there is him taking the mick. It is exactly like we said it was going to be.
‘When they first applied for that, it was supposed to be a wildlife pond, but it just escalated from one thing to another.
‘It is like everything that has gone on. The cart lodge should never have been there. It was refused when it was further back, and it went to appeal and they said he could have it there.
‘From our point of view, it’s one thing after another, and for us its completely ruined our outlook and everything. We are no longer happy here and we feel like we have lost a lot.
‘He might be Mr Nice Guy to everyone else, but he just does what he likes.’
