Long-running gate feud between posh folk in Kingston's Coombe Park hinges on October meeting (From This Is Local London)

Long-running gate feud between posh folk in Kingston's Coombe Park hinges on October meeting

11:32am Friday 3rd September 2010 in

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A crunch council meeting next month will discuss new proposals for the long-running feud between the residents of Coombe Park, which has been split for nearly three years by an illegal gate.

The gate was built by residents’ group Coombe Park Limited (CPL) in 2007, and has remained in place despite Kingston Council telling them to tear it down in May 2009 because it was built on the public section of the road.

Representatives of CPL have held secret meetings this summer with Councillor Patrick Codd and a member of the council’s legal team to discuss new compromise proposals.

Coombe Park residents who live outside of the gate said they feel let down by the council and cannot understand why another meeting has been called to discuss the issue.

Dr Robin Tillett, a Coombe Park resident who has campaigned against the gates, said: “The whole saga has been going on for a couple of years and it’s extremely frustrating.

“The longer the gates are there, the more it sets a precedent for other roads in Kingston to do the same and put up gates.”

Councillor Patrick Codd, chairman of the Malden and Coombe neighbourhood committee which made the ruling, had admitted forcing CPL to remove the gate would be an “expensive legal process”.

Coun Codd said: “The council has been trying to avoid an expensive legal process but we are not prepared to have a gated community on public land.

“Their main motive for doing this is security but this area has one of the lowest crime rates in London. This is not helpful for maintaining good neighbourhood relations.”

Those against the gates claimed the council was ignoring their concerns while their richer neighbours have been allowed to inflate the value of their properties by creating a gated community.

A Kingston Council spokesman said new circumstances had come to light since the committee’s decision last year, but would not disclose what they were.

He said: “Since May 2009... the position of the council and CPL has been clarified and the council has received advice from specialist counsel.

“In addition, CPL has put forward a proposal for settlement, although at the present time further clarification is sought.

“The report to the committee, planned for October 13, will set out the developments since the matter was last discussed, and will provide the committee with an opportunity to consider how best to proceed after taking into consideration all the circumstances now known.”