Portland Place mansion parties ruled out again!

Published: 22nd April, 2011
by JOSH LOEB

A SELF-STYLED lord this week lost his appeal against a ban on holding controversial parties and film shoots at his Mayfair home. 

Property developer “Lord” Edward Davenport went to the Court of Appeal to ask judges to overturn an injunction barring him from hosting the intimate gatherings at his Georgian mansion in Portland Place.

Westminster Council said it had acted in response to complaints from residents.

Under planning legislation, the property, which is close to other residential properties, should only be used for residential purposes.

The court ruling by three senior judges – Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Hooper and Lord Justice Munby, said: “Planning permission for commercial use could have been sought… that course was not followed.  

“I see no merit in the submission. The permitted use of the property is clear and the claim to an injunction cannot now be defeated by an assertion that broader uses are permitted.”

Davenport is described on his website as “one of London’s most flamboyant and best-known entrepreneurs as well as a true English gentleman from an established British family”.

Welcoming today’s decision, Rosemarie MacQueen, the city council’s strategic director for the built environment, said: “Over the last five years our officers have repeatedly warned Mr Davenport that by hiring out his home for these purposes he was in breach of planning permission, but he has flaunted these warnings at every opportunity. 

“We therefore had no choice but to seek an injunction.”