Mayus Karia is at loggerheads with neighbours in a sleepy Winchester village after he plans to add a helipad to his six-bedroom mansion (Picture: Solent News)
A millionaire lawyer is at war with his neighbours over plans to try and build a helipad at his country mansion.
Mayus Karia has triggered a row with those living close to his six-bedroom home in Durley, Hampshire, over plans to make a helicopter pad.
Neighbours in the village, which has a population of about 1,000, have objected to having their ‘peace ended’ by the ‘flash’ lawyer.
The dispute started when Karia, who claims to have an ‘unrivalled . . . sixth sense in litigation’, won permission to construct a helipad in his back garden.
Officials at Winchester city council originally granted him only two personal use round trips a month between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
However, local authority planning application documents show that last month Karia applied for unrestricted use to allow multiple landings and take-offs.
In the application, an agent for Karia said the lawyer needed ‘a loosening of the restriction to allow flexibility of irregular visits by some clients . . .’
The millionaire lawyer is trying to build a helipad at his huge mansion in Winchester (Picture: Facebook)
A drone shot of where the helipad could be built (Picture: Will Dax/Solent News)
In the application, the lawyer’s planning agent said that Karia has several billionaire clients, including two high-profile Americans who need to fly in for consultations.
Some local residents have described his application as ‘selfish’, citing the fact that the village is only seven miles from Southampton international airport and four miles from a small airfield in the village of Lower Upham.
In objections filed with the council, they have argued that unrestricted helicopter flights could disturb pets and livestock in local fields.
Geoff Travers, 78, who lives opposite Karia’s property, said that he and his wife, Shirley, 75, opposed the plans because they moved to the village in 1996 for a ‘peaceful retirement’.
He said: ‘I’m not opposed to a helicopter now and again, we can accept that, but it’s changed from personal and now sounds like it’s to fly his clients in.
‘Who knows, it could be three, four or six times a week. I don’t think it’s fitting with where we are — it’s not really for the village of Durley.’
Other angry locals have said Mr Karia ‘thinks he owns Durley’ having only moved in October 2021 and already built a basketball court in the home which also boasts a 30ft detached pool house.
They are worried helicopter trips will ‘spook’ the large numbers of pets and livestock residing in fields in such close proximity to the proposed helipad.
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘It’s taking the mick and not acceptable.
‘They haven’t been here two years and they think they own Durley.
‘If we weren’t near an airport then fair enough, but we are.’
Dave Humphries, 49, is Durley born and bred having grown up in the house he still lives in and says he’s worried about the effect on livestock.
‘It’s a rural area, there’s cattle and horses that are going to be spooked by a helicopter,’ the goods inn manager said.
‘It’s not the ideal place.
‘It’s a detriment to the area and it’s not something you expect in Durley.
‘Why can’t they just fly into Southampton, or there’s an airfield up the road.’
Deborah Stevenson, has lived in the area for 20 years is convinced the council won’t approve plans with horses, sheep, donkeys, cows, chickens, pigs and even wild deer nearby.
She said: ‘You’ve got to have animals or helicopter, you can’t have both and I’d rather have animals.’
On the proposed plans, she continued: ‘It’s nice if people can do what they want, he paid for his house.
‘But if it’s going to screw everyone else up with a helicopter taxi service that’s a bit selfish isn’t it.’
However, Lorna Cathie, 60, claimed she wasn’t overly concerned with plans, saying: ‘I don’t have any issues with it.
‘It doesn’t bother me as long as it’s not the middle of the night – that’s the only thing I would be worried about.
‘I think it’s quite fun.’
Bob Stevens, who has been living and farming on nearby land for nearly 40 years, said his cattle were already well accustomed to modern-day air traffic.
The 78-year-old said: ‘There are enough helicopters going over here already – they take no notice of it.
‘The proximity doesn’t worry me, I’m not against it at all.’
Mr Karia’s planning agent, architectural designer Malcolm Harvey, today insisted that the use of the helipad would not disturb villagers.
Mr Harvey said: ‘Mr Karia does not own a helicopter and it would not be based here but we want unrestricted use because we have to be flexible for clients who want to fly in.
‘He has two billionaire clients from the USA and they want to come over and be able to land here. I can’t say who they are they are names you may have heard of. We want the freedom for them to fly in when they need to.
‘We are on the edge of the village and the flight path would not be over the village itself.
‘It is not selfish. There are lots of people who have helicopters in the Winchester area and who fly almost every day. We don’t want tied to a particular number of flights per month but some months there might not be any.’
Mr Harvey added: ‘We have done a lot of work since buying the property. We have done the grounds and we also have plans for a big gymnasium with a kickboxing ring – Mr Karia is a former kickboxing champion.’
A decision has not yet been made by Winchester City Council.
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‘It’s a detriment to the area and it’s not something you expect in Durley.’
