Ellen DeGeneres denied planning permission to build horse arena at Cotswolds home
Summary
Ellen DeGeneres’s plans to stay in her Cotswolds home could be in tatters after proposals for an ‘all-weather riding arena’ for her horses were denied. Former chat show host Ellen applied for permission for the scheme as horses often can’t use the site during the winter due to flooding. Ellen and and her partner Portia De Rossi recently revealed their intention to stay ‘long-term’ at Kitesbridge Farm near Burford.
Details
They bought it for £15million in 2024 and spent a reported £7.5million on external and internal renovations. But they moved out after less than a month in the hope of finding somewhere more suitable to indulge in Portia’s passion for horses.
It was thought they would sell the home when it was listed year but it failed to attract a buyer and was plagued by flooding from the River Windrush, that ran through the 43 acre site. Planning documents submitted revealed they now have ambitions to make it their ‘long term home’ if their planning battles are successful. But West Oxfordshire District Council has refused the arena application.
It said it would ”constitute an intrusive and incongruous form of development within the open countryside and the Cotswolds”. The council planners said: ”The proposed riding arena, by reason of its scale, siting and associated engineering operations, would constitute an intrusive and incongruous form of development withinthe open countryside and the Cotswolds National Landscape.
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”The development would extend beyond the existing cluster of built form associated with the host dwelling resulting in an unacceptable encroachment into the open and undeveloped Upper Windrush Valley. ”The development would not protect or enhance the local landscape, would fail to conserve the intrinsic character and scenic beauty of the National Landscape, and would have a harmful visual impact on valley views.
”The proposal would adversely affect the setting of the adjacent Asthall Conservation Area through its visual prominence, erosion of the traditional pattern of development and harmful impact on the area’s rural setting.” Ellen’s representatives said of the arena plan: “The applicant’s horses are on site in temporary accommodation formed in the garaging in an existing barn pending the determination of (the stables application) “In order to provide a suitable flat all-weather arena for exercising the horses this application has been made.
“The surrounding land does have some flat areas where the horses can be exercised in summer months – but it is also adjacent to the River Windrush, so for the winter and other wet times the opportunities for exercise are more limited. “The choices then are daily movements to and from the site to exercise elsewhere – or to provide a modest facility on site.
“The chosen location would be immediately adjacent to the stables building to the rear of the property where it would be seen in the context of the existing undulating topography and the backdrop of the existing buildings – in the fullness of time the proposed new stable building.” The application was also accompanied by flooding photographs taken from April 2023 that they said “show how the lowerlying fields in the vicinity of the site do not provide suitable opportunities for exercising horses at certain times of the year.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live