EXCLUSIVEFurious neighbours blast 'greedy' Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner and wife Geri Halliwell's plans to build second swimming pool and say they aren't 'popular around here'

  • Reading time:5 min(s) read

  • Locals fear new 40ft outdoor pool will become magnet for jet set guests  
  • The couple’s mansion in village of Marston St Lawrence is near a historic church 

Locals in a picturesque Cotswolds village where F1 racing team boss Christian Horner and his pop star wife Geri have won permission to build a second swimming pool at their mansion are furious that their objections were ignored.

They fear the 40-ft outdoor pool will become a magnet for the power couple’s jet set pals and the noise they make will make their lives a misery.

One resident in the well-heeled village, Marston St Lawrence in south Northamptonshire, said: ‘This is a quiet little village and always has been – until this pair moved in.

‘Now we’re going to have to put up with months and months of noisy building work, then years of having to listen to the Horners and their friends partying day and night round the pool in the back garden.

‘The rear of their house backs out towards several nearby properties and I think it would be fair to say their lives are about to become pretty miserable.

Locals are furious after Christian Horner and his pop-star wife Geri Halliwell were given the go-ahead to build a swimming pool at their Grade II-listed mansion

Locals are furious after Christian Horner and his pop-star wife Geri Halliwell were given the go-ahead to build a swimming pool at their Grade II-listed mansion

Residents fear that the 40ft swimming pool will become a magnet for the couple's jet set friends and the disturbance will make their lives a misery

Residents fear that the 40ft swimming pool will become a magnet for the couple’s jet set friends and the disturbance will make their lives a misery

It also emerged that the Horners already have one swimming pool at their mansion (pictured)

It also emerged that the Horners already have one swimming pool at their mansion (pictured)

‘I mean, if someone’s throwing a pool party, who goes home before midnight?’

It has also emerged that the Horners already have an indoor swimming pool in one of the barns at their mansion, complete with changing facilities and a gymnasium, prompting further gripes from locals.

Another resident, in her late 50s and who has lived in the village all her life, said: ‘A second swimming pool? It’s downright greedy, isn’t it?’

The fuming near-neighbour added: ‘They surely can’t need two swimming pools. Most people would settle for one, if they could.

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‘They certainly aren’t making themselves very popular around here, that’s for sure.

‘They haven’t really integrated themselves in the village. We barely see them and when we do, they are very aloof in their manner. I’ve no time for either of them.’

Planning documents  showed the Spice Girl, 51 and the F1 Red Bull team boss, 50, had applied to install the pool in their garden, along with decorative planting including a new vegetable and rose garden with tree arches.

But council officials have turned their focus towards any potential ground disturbance from the construction work.

The site has a ‘long history of human occupation’ dating back 900,000 years to the Old Stone Age, according to Oxford Archaeology.

Some excavations in the village have uncovered medieval and undated remains, the organisation said. 

As a condition for the works, a programme of ‘observation, investigation, recording, analysis and publication’ is required during the pool’s construction phase.

Many locals who worship at the village’s 17th century church, St Lawrence’s, which sits exactly opposite the Horners’ Grade ll-listed mansion, had expressed their objections to the swimming pool planning application from the start.

They argued that the din generated by gatherings at the Horners’ pool would potentially drown out services at the historic church, a mainstay of the charming hamlet.

Christian (left) and Geri Horner (centre) pictured at the Jeddah grand prix.  Locals worry that the couple's new pool will have a noisy heat pump, and will attract social gatherings that could disturb the nearby church

Christian (left) and Geri Horner (centre) pictured at the Jeddah grand prix.  Locals worry that the couple’s new pool will have a noisy heat pump, and will attract social gatherings that could disturb the nearby church

One fuming near-neighbour said the couple were 'aloof' in their manner around the village and were rarely seen

One fuming near-neighbour said the couple were ‘aloof’ in their manner around the village and were rarely seen 

One churchgoer said: ‘The church is only a few metres from their house and if a pool party is in full swing on a Sunday, how are we going to hear the service? This is a really bad decision by the council, I’m afraid.

‘It is yet further evidence that it’s a rich man’s world – and round here, there aren’t many people richer than this pair.

‘I guess from now on, the vicar’s going to have to project his voice a few decibels louder.’

Another local resident, a retired accountant in his early 70s, said: ‘I’ve heard this ruddy pool comes with a heat pump too, so that’s going to make a hell of racket. I wish they’d eff off to California, or somewhere more to their taste.

‘This is a beautiful village, loved for its peace and serenity. This swimming pool development goes against those values. I’m very disappointed and I urge the Horners to reconsider their plans.’

St Lawrence’s church rector the Rev Nicholas Leggett said he was ‘not aware’ the pool had been given the go-ahead when MailOnline approached him.

He said: ‘This is news to me. I had no idea it had been approved. I don’t want to comment further until I have checked the details out myself and spoken to a few people about it. I need to make some enquiries.’




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