Millionaire businessman at war with council after erecting ELECTRIC FENCE around his £44.5m Notting Hill mega mansion without permission… because his wife ‘is scared of foxes’

A millionaire businessman infuriated his neighbors by installing an electric fence around his £44.5million Notting Hill mansion without planning permission.

David Walsh and his wife Jyotsna Chadha bought their four-storey West London townhouse in 2023 and have been busy making improvements.

This year, the high-flying couple erected a massive electric barrier at the borders of their palatial estate, claiming it was a defense against foxes roaming the capital’s gardens.

But Kensington and Chelsea council officers and some wealthy neighbors took a different view and accused the couple of ‘fortifying their home’, making the heritage site look like a ‘prisoner of war camp’ and causing a ‘public safety risk’.

Properties on the leafy street where the couple live sell for an average of several million, but theirs is by far the most expensive property on the road.

In retrospective planning documents, Mr Walsh, founder of giant CFC insurer worth an estimated £2.5bn, argued the inclusion of the fence was ‘for fox prevention purposes’ purposes.”

There was evidence of the scale of Mr Walsh’s ‘pre-emptive measures’ when we visited the glamorous suburb this week; massive electrical blockade along the boundary wall between his property and the next property.

But Mr Walsh was defiant when questioned as he charged his £110,000 electric Porsche Taycan.

David Walsh installed electric fencing around his property to ‘keep the foxes out’

Kensington and Chelsea council ‘confused’ according to Mr Walsh

But plans submitted to the council look quite different to established ones

He told the Mail: ‘This is none of your business. I have a wife who is very, very afraid of foxes, do you have a problem with that?

‘The council was so confused they looked at the wrong photos. ‘We actually have a much more secret and much better plan, but they looked at the wrong photos.’

But neighbors were less than convinced, with one telling the Mail: ‘It’s a bit ridiculous really, you’d expect this kind of fencing for prisoner of war camps – it’s unlikely to keep the foxes out.’

Another, who lives in the apartment building opposite, said: ‘Yes, it looks very ugly and a bit overdone?

‘Foxes may be a problem around here, but it’s the same for everyone in London. We sometimes experience problems with anti-social behavior at Notting Hill carnival; Maybe that’s why he did this?’

There is currently a warning sign along the fence advising that the equipment is designed to pen pigs, horses, sheep, cows and deer; There is no fox visible on it.

The fence has been placed over the boundary wall, which is shared directly with next-door neighbors who say they agree with Mr Walsh’s stance.

As Alex said, the resident who gave his name said, ‘Foxes dig in our garbage too.’ he said.

But despite this sole vote of confidence, bosses at Kensington and Chelsea council thought differently.

In official enforcement documents, the council said: ‘Due to its design, height and prominent location, the proposed electric fence will be read as an unwelcome addition, resulting in fortification of the site and a failure to preserve the character and appearance of the building, streetscape and wider conservation area.’

Mr Walsh’s fence clearly has warning signs but official objectors warned it could still be a danger

Installation results in ‘strengthening of site’, council says

Among those objecting was the Ladbroke Association, a community group that aims to preserve the architectural heritage of the wider conservation area, and made direct reference to the danger the installation posed to groups of people.

A spokesman said: ‘In our initial objection we raised concerns about the public safety aspects of this scheme and suggested that there should be conditions requiring a minimum of existing and adequate public liability insurance. We were surprised that this was considered outside the scope of the planning assessment in the officers’ report.

‘Paragraph 102 of the NPPF says that planning policies and decisions should promote public safety by, inter alia, anticipating and addressing possible malicious threats and other hazards (natural or man-made), particularly where large numbers of people are expected to gather.

‘We see other hazards as encompassing electric fences that the public may interact with, particularly in urban areas. We do not find that references to areas where large numbers of people gather exclude other areas that pose a threat to the public.

‘We understand that planning officers believe this paragraph relates to major developments, but again there is nothing in the paragraph to indicate that minor developments are excluded. We therefore hope that this issue can be reconsidered, as we believe that public safety should be considered a material planning element in this situation.’

Among the large congregations the group mentions is the Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place just yards from the reserve and brings more than two million people to the suburb each August.

The controversial event, where millionaire residents regularly barricade themselves outside their homes, is known to be a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.

The Met Police said a total of 423 people were arrested over two days this year; this number was 349 last year; this number was the highest since 2019.

According to his LinkedIn, Mr Walsh remains a ‘significant shareholder of CFC’ and is currently ‘an advisor and investor in various insurance and non-insurance businesses’.