ED SHEERAN’S neighbours have slammed the singer for swimming in his garden pond.
Sheeran told council officials that the kidney-shaped water feature at his £3.7million Suffolk estate was not a swimming pool, but actually a wildlife pond.
When the Shape of You singer added steps and a jetty to the pond in 2017, local officials stressed that it should not be used for “recreational leisure activity, such as swimming”.
In 2019, Suffolk Coastal District Council inspected the site, finding no planning breach.
A spokesman had said: “There was no evidence that it is not a wildlife pond, as plants are growing in and around it, or that the planning conditions had been broken.”
The ban on leisure activities, including swimming, around the pond was later removed after the superstar argued that it was neither necessary nor reasonable.
But Sheeran has now posted a video on Instagram showing him leaping from the jetty into the water feature – sparking comments from upset neighbours.
After watching Sheeran’s video, one told MailOnline: “What you have shown me there is him taking the mick. It is exactly like we said it was going to be.”
The neighbour said the water feature was supposed to be a wildlife pond, but it “escalated”.
He added: “From our point of view, it’s one thing after another, and for us its completely ruined our outlook and everything. We are no longer happy here and we feel like we have lost a lot.
“He might be Mr Nice Guy to everyone else, but he just does what he likes.”
Sheeran created his estate from a string of neighbouring properties, adding a number of oddities like a pub, tree house, outdoor kitchen and even a “chapel” with 25ft tower.
The disgruntled neighbour said he is fed up with Sheeran turning arable land into his own bit of woodland.
He said: “It has ruined our life up here. We used to have farmland all the way round us. It’s one of the worst things for us.”
The neighbour said Sheeran was a talented young man, but disapproves of what he has done to the surrounding area.
Another neighbour said the supposed “swimming pool” was not that noisy but it was not supposed to be a pool.
A third called the wildlife pond “a bit of a sham”.
Ed Sheeran has quite a portfolio of properties.
As of May 2023, he was the owner of 22 residential properties in London and five homes in Suffolk.
The singer has reportedly spent £57m on investing in the property market.
Along with his ‘Sheeranville’ country estate, believed to be worth £3.7million, he also owns a mansion in Holland Park, slated to be worth £19.8million.
The outcome of the successful 2019 appeal, which lifted the restriction on use of the pond, says: “There is no dispute between the main parties that the pond is a wildlife pond and is not being used for recreational purposes, although I note that neighbours have commented otherwise.
“From the evidence before me, I consider that the pond is not being used for recreational purposes.”
