Claudia Schiffer loses planning battle against neighbour

Claudia Schiffer has lost a planning battle against her neighbour who wants to double the size of her cottage on the boundary of the supermodel’s 530-acre Suffolk country estate.

The catwalk queen and her film-director husband Matthew Vaughn had complained their home, Coldham Hall in Stanningfield, would be ‘adversely impacted’ by their neighbour’s ‘over-sized’ extension.

They lodged their complaints with West Suffolk council after neighbour Hanne Pilo – believed to be related to the former owner of their estate, multi-millionaire Danish businessman Jens Pilo – applied for planning permission for the extension.

The celebrity couple, who own the sprawling Coldham Hall mansion (left) in Stanningfield, Suffolk, were battling to stop an expansion of nearby property Coldham Hall Cottage (right) which they argue would ‘adversely impact’ them

But Miss Pilo has now been given the go-ahead to build a two-storey side and rear extension on grade-two listed Coldham Hall Cottage and demolish an outbuilding and replace it with garages.

It is a blow for Schiffer and Vaughn, who have lived in their 14-bedroom Tudor mansion for 17 years, and who said the large extension to the semi-bungalow would spoil their views across their 530-acre estate.

But the planning officer disagreed with the couple and proposed the extension should go ahead.

He said: ‘In the case of this application, the dwelling is located within a curtilage which is able to accommodate the scale of the extension without over-development.

‘The proposed two storey side extension is located on the east boundary of the property and extends to the rear of the property by 8.5 metres. The proposed extension also has a Juliet balcony located to the rear of the extension.

‘The only adjoining neighbouring property is at Coldham Hall Farmhouse located on the western boundary of the property and located over 30 metres away from the proposed side and rear extension with an existing garage positioned between the two properties.

‘It is therefore considered that the proposed extension will not result in any material adverse impact on the neighbouring property in terms of overlooking, loss of light or having an overbearing impact.’

Miss Pilo has been given a deadline of three years for the work to be started.

Neighbour Hanne Pilo has now been given the go-ahead to build a two-storey side and rear extension on grade-two listed Coldham Hall Cottage (pictured) and demolish an outbuilding and replace it with garages

Schiffer and Vaughn at a film premiere in New York on May 29 (left) and a side view of Coldham Hall Cottage, which is on the boundary of their land 

Schiffer and Vaughn are believed to have originally paid around £7.5 million for their Tudor mansion, where they now live full-time with their three children.

Their residency of the Tudor home, which once belonged to Gunpowder Plot conspirator Ambrose Rookwood, has not always been smooth.

In 2002, a stalker made nine separate trips to the estate to try to glimpse Schiffer and two years later a Canadian man was accused of harassing her by bombarding the house with letters.

Schiffer and Vaughn were also spoken to by the police after one of their dogs – they own an Irish wolfhound and a German shepherd – mauled a local’s Jack Russell.

And in 2014, a fire ripped through some of the outbuildings, destroying a historic clock tower.

The house is built in 1574 and is believed to have been named after Queen Elizabeth I, who was not amused after she was served cold ham there and christened it Coldham Hall. 

 A planning officer disagreed with the couple and proposed the extension should go ahead. He said: ‘In the case of this application, the dwelling is located within a curtilage which is able to accommodate the scale of the extension without over-development’

Schiffer’s residency of the Tudor home, which once belonged to Gunpowder Plot conspirator Ambrose Rookwood, has not always been smooth. In 2002, a stalker made nine separate trips to the estate to try to glimpse Schiffer and two years later a Canadian man was accused of harassing her by bombarding the house with letters