A high-flying lawyer’s hopes of unrestricted flights to and from the garden helipad of his country house in Hampshire have been thwarted after a council concluded it would destroy the tranquility of the area.
Mayus Karia had upset residents of the village of Durley by seeking permission to fly clients in and out at any time of day.
Winchester city council said unrestricted landings and takeoffs would create “an unacceptable level of noise pollution” and be “harmful to neighbouring amenities”.
The council said: “The site is within a rural area and the unrestricted use has a harmful effect on the rural tranquillity of the area.”
Karia, described on his firm’s website as a “ferocious and meticulous litigator” and “akin to the genius of Field Marshal Montgomery in the battlefield”, was given permission for a helipad in his back garden.
He was granted the go-ahead for two personal-use round trips a month between 8am and 6pm, but subsequently lodged an application for unrestricted use.
Neighbours argued there were airfields nearby including Southampton international, which is less than 10 miles away. Some locals expressed concerns that helicopter trips would “spook’” livestock and pets as well as spoiling the peace.
Geoff Travers, 78, and his wife, Shirley Travers, 75, who live opposite Karia, said they moved there in 1996 for a peaceful retirement.
Geoff Travers said: “I built the house here. We had a nice secluded plot of land. I don’t think it’s fitting with where we are, it’s not really for Durley.”
Shirley Travers said: “It’s just ludicrous when an airport is a stone’s throw away – it’s unbelievable. We’ve got to stick up for ourselves, we don’t want our peace ended.”
Durley has a population of under 1,000, two village pubs and a single primary school with about 130 children.
Another homeowner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said her biggest concerns were safety, noise and the effects on livestock.
Durley parish council opposed the application, writing: “We would not want to disturb residents’ tranquility by allowing additional noise 24 hours a day. We do have small airfields in Durley and Upham and these should be utilised.”
Karia’s planning agent, Malcolm Harvey, insisted that use of the helipad would not disturb villagers. He said: “Mr Karia does not own a helicopter and it would not be based here but we want unrestricted use because we have to be flexible for clients who want to fly in.
“He has two billionaire clients from the USA and they want to come over and be able to land here. I can’t say who they are, they are names you may have heard of. We want the freedom for them to fly in when they need to.
“We are on the edge of the village and the flight path would not be over the village itself. There are lots of people who have helicopters in the Winchester area and who fly almost every day. We don’t want tied to a particular number of flights per month but some months there might not be any.”
Karia has six months to appeal against his application being refused.
