Property SpecialThe battle for Notting Hill

John Prescott’s plans to erect hundreds of thousands of new homes on – I’m going to use that disgusting word – ‘brownfield’ sites has not, so far as I know, caused a further outbreak of nimbyism in my neighbourhood. In Notting Hill, there is an embarras of new building already. Aubrey Square in W8, by St James Homes, is one of several ‘high-end’ developments nearing completion.

I’ve wanted to snoop round this for ages. One, it forced the closure of my old tennis club, Campden Hill (that didn’t bother me, though I did resent being told off for not wearing ‘regulation tennis socks’ by a spotty male member of the committee – you know who you are).

Two, I knew that, since plans were submitted to the unutterably venal Tory Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, more than 400 objections were lodged on the grounds that the area did not include enough affordable housing for ‘locals’.

The nimbys were led, according to the Sunday Times, by Harold Pinter and Lady Antonia Fraser, whose stately Campden Hill Square house is within hailing distance of the new build. By the way, I would like to stress that the Sunday Times article was not linked to the fact that the development has delayed the reopening of the tennis club – where sporty Sunday Times editor John Witherow is a member – for well over a year.

Now I’ve made that clear, let’s go and see Aubrey Square. Nothing, you would think, would be easier than arranging a viewing of a swanky new development with a view to writing a nice article. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that the prix for units in the development are not exactly choc.

They start at around half a million for a one-bedroom flat and finish at a cool eleven million (I have to spell that out) for a seven-bedroom house with its own staff quarters and underground parking and swimming pool.