Paul McCartney told to plant tree by council in garden row with neighbour
Being the most famous living musician in the world doesn’t make you immune to getting into petty disputes with neighbours, as Paul McCartney has discovered.
McCartney’s disagreement with his neighbour in North London relates to the musical legend’s plans to chop down two sycamore trees from his garden.
As his home in St John’s Wood is in a conservation area, McCartney had to apply for permission before felling the trees, which caused a dispute with a neighbour in the sought-after area of London.
Per The Times, a representative for McCartney stated that he wanted to fell the trees due to them being “in decline” and removing them would allow for “more space for an adjacent hornbeam to grow into.”
McCartney’s plans were then objected to by his neighbour Reinhold Meinen, who questioned whether the trees were genuinely in decline, writing to Westminster City Council, “I am suspicious if those trees are fatally ill.”
As a result, McCartney came to a compromise which would see one tree felled and another pruned by 1.5 metres. The council have also recommended that he plant an Acer davidii, which originates in China, to make up for the loss of the sycamore.
Tracy Darke, director of town planning at Westminster City Council, wrote to him, “It would be appreciated if you would consider planting a replacement tree. You may wish to consider Acer davidii.”
Now that this dispute has seemingly reached a conclusion, McCartney can get back to more pressing matters, such as releasing his first studio album in six years, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, on May 28th.
Last weekend, McCartney returned to Saturday Night Live to perform ‘The Days We Left Behind’ from his forthcoming album, as well as turning back the clocks to play the Wings classic ‘Band on the Run’, and closing the show with the 1980 fan favourite, ‘Coming Up’.
Notably, his new album is shaped by his early days in Liverpool. On a recent episode of The Rest is History, McCartney reminisced about those formative years in conversation with historian Tom Holland and discussed having his hometown to thank for the person he is today.
He shared, “I do think the character of Liverpool is a very strong one. I think with the Irish influence and then coming through the war, and having to be happy when bombs were falling, there was a lot of music when I was a kid.”
McCartney continued, “I think it gave us a good sense of humour – that no matter what we were going to do, like arrive in America and have the New York press ready to make fun of us, we gave as good as we got.”
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