Plans to sell a privately owned Notting Hill garden for £5million have been condemned by wealthy residents who fear the sale will lose them access to the coveted green space.
Prince’s Square Gardens – created in 1856 – is currently accessible by 300 members who fork out £400 a year alongside a £300 joining fee to enjoy the ‘beautifully landscaped and well-preserved’ one-acre space.
But the garden’s current part-owners Kenneth Cassillo, 55, Wayne Moretto, 58, and Jalna Blake, 84, are planning on selling it – and locals think it could make them up to £5million.
Paying members fear a new owner could cut their access to the park – which residents have ‘donated significant funds to improve’.
There are concerns the garden – which is only 20 minutes from Rosmead Garden made famous by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ 1999 film Notting Hill – could instead be turned into a personal outside space, or used as a play area for a local private school.
Plans to sell a privately owned Notting Hill garden (pictured) for £5million have been condemned by wealthy residents who fear the sale will lose them access to the coveted green space
But the garden’s current part-owners Kenneth Cassillo, 55, Wayne Moretto, 58, (pictured together) and Jalna Blake, 84, are planning on selling it – and locals think it could make them up to £5million
The park is only 20 minutes from Rosmead Garden made famous by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ 1999 film Notting Hill (pictured)
Prince’s Square Gardens (pictured) – created in 1856 – is currently accessible by 300 members who fork out £400 a year alongside a £300 joining fee to enjoy the ‘beautifully landscaped and well-preserved’ space
Paying members fear a new owner could cut their access to the park (pictured) – which residents have ‘donated significant funds to improve’
One of the rare dog-friendly gardens in London, other notable features include the manicured lawn, a perimeter of mature trees and a butterfly area.
A recently installed playground, a wildlife space, and the Perfume Garden comprising plants like clematis, honeysuckle and climbing roses complete the park.
The wooden equipment for children includes a roofed lookout tower, lower den, rock climb, rope climb, ladder, slide, monkey bars, two sets of swings including a pair of cradle swings and stretch and walk posts.
Two mature London plane trees, which date as far back in an 1869 Ordnance Survey, also still stand today.
A Notting Hill campaign group want to block the sale all together, or add a clause making sure their continued access is a condition of the purchase.
Mr Cassillo and Mr Moretto – part owners of Prince’s Square Gardens Limited who own the park – bought their shares for a ‘nominal’ cost but could still take home £4million thanks to their 80 per cent cut, the group claims.
Prince’s Square Gardens Limited own the park and form a committee responsible for its upkeep.
There are concerns the garden (a sign outlining rules, pictured) could instead be turned into a personal garden, or used as a play area for a local private school
A recently installed playground, a wildlife space, and the Perfume Garden comprising of plants like clematis, honeysuckle and climbing roses complete the park (pictured)
The official price of the garden is only revealed on application. It sits in wealthy Notting Hill, home to celebrities including Richard Branson, Robbie Williams and Stella McCartney.
The group told The Times: ‘In its 165-year history it has generally been known to have served for the benefit of the local community and been passed down from one group of local resident stewards to another.
‘Many local residents have donated significant funds to improve the square, such as the recent improvement of the children’s playground.’
The third company director 84-year-old Blake is understood to be ill. So far none of the directors have issued a statement about their plans.
Surrounding the Prince’s Square Gardens are a variety of hotels and hostels that do not pay for the upkeep of the garden and are not allowed access.
The wooden equipment for children includes a roofed lookout tower, lower den, rock climb, rope climb, ladder, slide, monkey bars, two sets of swings including a pair of cradle swings and stretch and walk posts at the park (pictured)
Estate agent Savills described it in an online ad as a ‘beautifully landscaped and well preserved central London garden square’.
It said the sale is ‘a once in a generation opportunity to become the owner of a one acre garden in central London’.
Estate agent Savills development director Luke Hawkesbury said: ‘Over the course of last year there has been an increased focus on access to outside space.
‘This asset offers something that so many people, who live in London want, which makes it a once in a generation opportunity to become the owner of a one-acre garden in central London.
‘We expect interest from a wide range of sources, but in particular from local stakeholders, who don’t have access to outside space and where this type of exceptional amenity will enhance either a business or indeed a lifestyle.’