Aussie movie star dumps mansion plans after neighbour backlash

Cate Blanchett has reportedly cast aside development plans at her beachside holiday house as long-running tensions with neighbours boils over.

The Oscar-winning start of Tar, Carol andThe Lord of The Rings sent a letter to Cornwall Council, with her husband, withdrawing the plans for a parking zone for her guests, which was to adjoin the luxury ecohome they are building in an area once dubbed “Hollywood-on-Sea”.

British press reports the move comes after other homeowners in the town of Mawgan Porth said the car-park construction works were disruptive and affecting them financially, lodging complaints with council.

Blanchett and her husband, playright Andrew Upton, were granted council permission to build the multi-storey, coastal house in 2022, on an address they bought and bulldozed in 2020. They acquired a plot of land next door in 2021 with the intention of creating parking for their residence.

The spat with neighbours has been persistent ever since.

In a letter, The Sun reported the Uptons – the actor uses this as her legal name – have informed council that they will not proceed with the parking works.

Neighbour Karen Burgess, who owns a holiday accommodation business, submitted to the council that noise from the Upton’s building site had caused $AU115,000 worth of cancellations and discount requests from unhappy guests.

“Never before in the bay have we ever experienced such a blatant disregard for the people who flock here for their holidays and residents enjoyment of the area during the holiday season,” she said in the letter reproduced by The Sun.

“We thought the work was finally over and now there is a new application for ground works. This work should NOT be permitted during the holiday season.”

A spokesperson for architecture firm Watershedd, which has designed the Upton’s home, told The Sun they have been in regular communication with neighbours and the din is coming from other development sites.

“She cannot be referring to our clients’ property where there were no noisy works during the peak holiday period last year, once again, our clients’ property has been mistaken for other works going on in Mawgan Porth,” the spokesperson told the newspaper.

In February, the Uptons sold their inner-city Melbourne bolthole for a price above hopes.

The stylish Prahran townhouse was scheduled for auction but a buyer made a successful move prior.

The sum was understood to be north of $3 million – half-a-million dollars better than expected for the three-bedroom home at 5 Trinian Street, which was marketed with a guide of $2.25 million to $2.45 million.

A spokesperson for listing agency Kay & Burton would not be drawn on details, as reported by The Age, but said all parties were delighted by the result.

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