George Clooney has won a battle to build an outdoor toilet in his back garden.
The Hollywood star’s plans looked like they were going down the pan after conservationists said it could damage the roots of a protected tree.
But the council has now approved the alfresco bog at his £12million, 17th century, Grade II Listed mansion in Sonning, Berkshire.
The proposed outbuilding, in the style of a “typical garden shed”, is described in planning documents as a simple single-storey, timber construction with a pitched roof clad in cedar shingles.
But South Oxfordshire District Council’s forestry team said it compromised the roots of a protected Redwood tree.
Tree officer Tim Onslow-Free explained that the proposed WC would be withing the “root protection area” of a category A protected Coast Redwood.
But he suggested: “There appears to be the opportunity to relocate the proposed outbuilding to a more appropriate location without causing foreseeable harm to Category A trees.”
Now Clooney, 58, and his human rights lawyer wife Amal, 42, have moved the loo to a new spot in their extensive grounds.
Granting permission, council case officer Paul Lucas, said: “Following advice from the Forestry Officer, amended plans were submitted to show the building relocated to a more appropriate location.”
The couple paid £12million for their home, on the banks of the River Thames, just a few weeks after their wedding six years ago.
Since then the family have added indoor and outdoor swimming pools and put up 18 CCTV cameras.
The pile also boasts a 12-seater cinema, an editing suite, an outdoor dining area, tennis court, new boathouse and self-contained living quarters for a nanny.
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