David Beckham’s Cotswolds estate plans spark fresh neighbour dispute

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham are facing a new disagreement from neighbours over further changes to their £6 million Cotswolds home.

The couple has submitted plans to plant 79 trees and create a wildflower meadow after several landscaping changes to the property. The proposal follows earlier approval to upgrade an agricultural track into a permanent driveway, which will serve as the main entrance to the estate.

Planning documents show the scheme includes native trees like oak, beech, and Scots pine along the new driveway. Lime, maple, hazel, holly and yew trees will also cover the woodland—aimed at increasing privacy and security after past attempted break-ins at their London and countryside homes.

However, some residents have objected to more changes. One neighbour submitted a 43-page complaint, arguing that much of the work appears to have already been carried out before formal approval. 

He warned that if the council approved the plan, the countryside home would transform into a fortress. "This current application is just a joke," the complaint read, per The Mirror. 

"Why submit an application when you have already laid the road, installed gates, laid an electricity supply to the gate, planted trees, installed post and rail fencing along both sides of this track?"

Tensions between the Beckhams and locals are not new. Disputes date back to 2020, when plans for a staffed security gatehouse raised eyebrows, with some residents claiming it would "ruin the ambiance" of the Oxfordshire property. The neighbours eventually withdrew their complaint, per The Sun.

"Farms and agricultural buildings do not have gatehouses and security huts," one local had reportedly complained in response to David's plans to increase security with a gatehouse guarded by 24-hour personnel and an underground getaway tunnel.

At the time, Victoria and David were spending COVID lockdown in their Cotswolds home with three of their children, Romeo, Cruz, and Harper. Their eldest, now estranged son, Brooklyn, was spending lockdown in Los Angeles with then-girlfriend, now-wife Nicola Peltz, at her family's multi-million dollar mansion.

More recently, further objections were raised over plans for a storage barn last year. The Beckham family has also received permission for additions including a kitchen garden and glasshouse.

An exasperated local complained, "This is just the latest in a long line of applications to build new structures on this land, plus a giant lake. Why do famous people move out to the country and then clutter up their land with endless buildings and make silly alterations? It makes no sense."

The latest proposals for 12 European beech, 19 English oak, 15 small-leaved lime, eight field maple, seven Scots pine, five common hazel, five sycamore maple, four holly and four English yew trees now sit with the local council.