Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint hit with £86k bill after row with council and neighbours over building at his £5m mansion
HARRY Potter star Rupert Grint has been hit with an £86,000 bill after a row with the council over his £5million home.
The actor – who is best known for playing Ron Weasley in the film franchise – had plans to build his own Hogsmeade-style village on the site of the Hertfordshire property.
The council and furious neighbours are now demanding cash from Rupert, 34, after making his planning application.
The actor had asked to build six apartments, five detached houses and four "affordable" terraced homes on his land.
However, numerous locals have slammed the project for the impact it will have on residents and the surrounding nature.
So far, Rupert's application has received 13 public complaints and an objection from the parish council.
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Now the local council are demanding £86,000 due to increased pressure on the local school, library, and youth services.
Its Growth and Infrastructure Unit have now said if the plans get the green light, it wants a contribution to costs.
This includes £70,153 “towards the expansion of the local school” and £11,401 to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
They have asked for a further £2,519 to library services at the local library and £1,974 "towards sourcing a new exclusive or shared use young people's centre”.
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The rest of the total – that sits at a whopping £86,387 – is made up by £340 of monitoring costs.
Rupert's representative has been contacted for comment.
The Ron Weasley star has a reported £42 million fortune and a massive property portfolio.
Among the properties is an 18th century mansion which boasts two swimming pools and a private cinema, bought for £5.4m in 2009.
But after failing to sell it for £6m in 2018, he applied to the council for permission to develop the 22-acre site on the edge of the picturesque village.
The six-bedroom manor, a former vicarage, would be turned into six separate apartments, while a nearby barn would be demolished to make way for the housing.
As well as a lake and a pond, there would also be an outdoor swimming pool, a gym, tennis courts and ornamental walled gardens, but locals have slammed the plans.
Speaking to The Sun in November, villager Davina Malcolm believes up to 50 trees will have to be chopped down in an area of outstanding beauty.
“I am really cross about this,” she said. "As many as 50 established trees may have to go under these plans.
"This is green belt land and there really is no need to build more houses here.
“They said they’d build the new homes to look like mine – but how can they possibly do that when mine dates from the 1700s?”
Another villager, who did not wish to be named, feared that the extra traffic could cause major congestion on the two narrow roads surrounding the Grange.
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She said: “The roads are really only wide enough for one vehicle and there are frequent long snarl-ups when buses and tractors try to get along there.
“All these houses will have at least two and maybe three cars, so it will be even more chaotic when they start exiting the site.”
