A Kuwaiti billionaire's plan to build a £100 million (Dh588m) luxury home overlooking Hampstead Heath in London has caused outrage among residents.
Naseer Al Kharafi was planning a 50,000 sq ft neo-classical house, designed by Robert Adam, one of Prince Charles's favourite architects, reported the 'London Evening Standard'.
Terry Jones, former Monty Python star, Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, actor Tim Pigott-Smith and Wesley Kerr, former BBC journalist who now heads the Heritage Lottery Fund's London committee, are among those who object to the Al Kharafi's plan.
Opponents are upset at the proposal to demolish the existing Victorian mansion on the site, Athlone House, and will make their case at a planning inquiry due next year following Camden council's rejection of the plans in April.
Jones, meanwhile, has accused Al Kharafi of ignoring an earlier planning agreement to restore the original house dating from 1871. "I don't think they should get away with it," he said.
Hobsbawm claimed the building represents a threat to the character of Hampstead Heath. In a letter to the local authority, he said he was objecting on "behalf of all Londoners and foreign tourists for whom the heath is an invaluable, source of pleasure and enjoyment".
Pigott-Smith said the plan was the latest in a string of schemes from super-rich newcomers from abroad. "There is massive money coming in," he said.
Al Kharafi, with a reported net worth of $14bn, is the 48th richest man in the world. Last year he was said to be involved in a bid to buy Liverpool Football Club.