ianstone
07-30-2010, 02:13 PM
'Lord' who filled pool with Courvoisier is banned from holding star-studded parties at his £20m home
By Paul Sims (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Paul+Sims)
Last updated at 5:25 PM on 30th July 2010
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A flamboyant self-styled Lord who entertained the rich and famous was today banned from holding star-studded parties at his £20 million mansion.
Monaco-based Edward Davenport, 44, hosted all-night events for A-List stars including Cher and invited the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton.
He has also been photographed rubbing shoulders with Hugh Grant, Simon Cowell, Helena Bonham Carter, Victoria Beckham and Sarah Ferguson.
At one party last December the 18th-century mansion's swimming pool was filled with cognac and invited guests were allowed to row across it.
The 110-room, five-floor property in west London's Portland Place was also hired out for host pole-dancing lessons, a masked ball and even 'a sex party' and 'porn disco'.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-003A6A5200000190-762_468x304.jpg Lavish: Edward Davenport at his hotel L'Hermitage in Monte Carlo
Council officials claimed the mansion - the former High Commission of Sierra Leone and Gambia - was wrongly being used for commercial purposes.
It was a residential property first and foremost, they said. Despite this Davenport was responsible for 'persistent and flagrant' planning breaches.
At London's High Court yesterday Mr Justice Eady ruled in favour of Westminster Council and imposed a permanent ban forbidding him from staging any more parties there.
It follows an interim injunction which was granted in January.
Davenport denied breaching any planning rules and claimed an injunction would be 'oppressive' and create 'overwhelming hardship and prejudice' to him and others.
But Mr Justice Eady said: 'Over a number of years there has been an unwillingness to accept the council’s determination on planning issues.
'Moreover assurances have not been adhered to and, more recently, obligations imposed by the January injunction have not only been ignored but also concealed from at least some of the persons who have paid money to hire out the premises.
'The council has a duty to enforce planning control and there seems to be no alternative way of achieving this effectively without the granting of an injunction.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-09E2FD36000005DC-370_224x368.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-07413E8E000005DC-641_224x368.jpg
A-list: Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were among Davenport's guests
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-0678ACED000005DC-1000_468x306.jpg Edward Davenport and Sarah Ferguson. He hosted all-night parties
Davenport - who counts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, rapper 50 Cent and singer Pink as friends - regularly threw parties at his lavish home.
It was also used for film shoots, a fashion show and art fair, a wedding, a nightclub and a masquerade ball featuring stilt-walkers, fire jugglers and contortionists.
But in doing so the events organiser failed to notify the council that the building was now being used for commercial purposes.
At an earlier hearing in June the court was told how a planning officer arrived on December 9 last year to find the 18th century house - which boasts a courtyard, ballroom, club and Jacuzzi - illuminated by a pink glow.
Saira Kabir Sheikh, representing Westminster City Council, said the officer was told tickets could be bought online for £6.50.
Brandy maker Courvoisier said it had created a 'gigantic punchbowl' filled with 1,000 litres of alcohol, 'so big you can row across it', she said.
Then, in April, the council heard that the property had been used to host a commercial sex party which charged £90 upon arrival.
Ms Sheikh also claimed that, despite requests from neighbours to turn down the music, noise from the house got so loud it 'constituted a statutory nuisance'.
The impact on neighbouring residential amenity was to an 'unacceptable degree'. The court heart heard an enforcement notice issued in July 2006 was ignored.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-0AA23C3C000005DC-921_468x343.jpg No expense spared: Davenport's 100-room house is on Portland Place
Davenport, who co-founded Gate-Crashers, which organises parties at stately homes and reportedly turned over £250,000 a year at its height, argued that throughout its history the house had regularly been used for entertaining and social events - sometimes on a very grand scale.
He said that the use of the property, which costs £250,000 a year to run, had not been sufficiently intensive to prejudice its primary use as residential premises.
But the judge said he was satisfied the council had established that the requirements of the enforcement notice it served in 2006 had been breached.
There was nothing inherently wrong in Davenport hiring out parts of the building to make money and fund its upkeep, but it represented a change of use and would require planning permission.
Davenport, who says his title is that of 'Lord of the manor of the village of Giffords', claims he inherited the title, although he is also said to have bought it.
Westminster Council welcomed the decision.
Rosemarie MacQueen, the local authority's strategic director for built environment, said: 'This property has been repeatedly used as a venue for parties and has attracted multiple complaints from residents.
'Despite our best efforts to engage with Mr Davenport he has blatantly refused to stop using a residential address for commercial purposes, and has left us no choice other than to take legal action.
'This injunction will at least ensure his neighbours can finally enjoy their home in some degree of peace, without being disturbed at all hours by the large-scale parties which have blighted the local area.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298972/Lord-Edward-Davenport-banned-holding-parties-20m-London-home.html#ixzz0vBsMmLz5
By Paul Sims (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Paul+Sims)
Last updated at 5:25 PM on 30th July 2010
Comments (11) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298972/Lord-Edward-Davenport-banned-holding-parties-20m-London-home.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298972/Lord-Edward-Davenport-banned-holding-parties-20m-London-home.html)
A flamboyant self-styled Lord who entertained the rich and famous was today banned from holding star-studded parties at his £20 million mansion.
Monaco-based Edward Davenport, 44, hosted all-night events for A-List stars including Cher and invited the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton.
He has also been photographed rubbing shoulders with Hugh Grant, Simon Cowell, Helena Bonham Carter, Victoria Beckham and Sarah Ferguson.
At one party last December the 18th-century mansion's swimming pool was filled with cognac and invited guests were allowed to row across it.
The 110-room, five-floor property in west London's Portland Place was also hired out for host pole-dancing lessons, a masked ball and even 'a sex party' and 'porn disco'.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-003A6A5200000190-762_468x304.jpg Lavish: Edward Davenport at his hotel L'Hermitage in Monte Carlo
Council officials claimed the mansion - the former High Commission of Sierra Leone and Gambia - was wrongly being used for commercial purposes.
It was a residential property first and foremost, they said. Despite this Davenport was responsible for 'persistent and flagrant' planning breaches.
At London's High Court yesterday Mr Justice Eady ruled in favour of Westminster Council and imposed a permanent ban forbidding him from staging any more parties there.
It follows an interim injunction which was granted in January.
Davenport denied breaching any planning rules and claimed an injunction would be 'oppressive' and create 'overwhelming hardship and prejudice' to him and others.
But Mr Justice Eady said: 'Over a number of years there has been an unwillingness to accept the council’s determination on planning issues.
'Moreover assurances have not been adhered to and, more recently, obligations imposed by the January injunction have not only been ignored but also concealed from at least some of the persons who have paid money to hire out the premises.
'The council has a duty to enforce planning control and there seems to be no alternative way of achieving this effectively without the granting of an injunction.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-09E2FD36000005DC-370_224x368.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-07413E8E000005DC-641_224x368.jpg
A-list: Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were among Davenport's guests
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-0678ACED000005DC-1000_468x306.jpg Edward Davenport and Sarah Ferguson. He hosted all-night parties
Davenport - who counts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, rapper 50 Cent and singer Pink as friends - regularly threw parties at his lavish home.
It was also used for film shoots, a fashion show and art fair, a wedding, a nightclub and a masquerade ball featuring stilt-walkers, fire jugglers and contortionists.
But in doing so the events organiser failed to notify the council that the building was now being used for commercial purposes.
At an earlier hearing in June the court was told how a planning officer arrived on December 9 last year to find the 18th century house - which boasts a courtyard, ballroom, club and Jacuzzi - illuminated by a pink glow.
Saira Kabir Sheikh, representing Westminster City Council, said the officer was told tickets could be bought online for £6.50.
Brandy maker Courvoisier said it had created a 'gigantic punchbowl' filled with 1,000 litres of alcohol, 'so big you can row across it', she said.
Then, in April, the council heard that the property had been used to host a commercial sex party which charged £90 upon arrival.
Ms Sheikh also claimed that, despite requests from neighbours to turn down the music, noise from the house got so loud it 'constituted a statutory nuisance'.
The impact on neighbouring residential amenity was to an 'unacceptable degree'. The court heart heard an enforcement notice issued in July 2006 was ignored.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/30/article-1298972-0AA23C3C000005DC-921_468x343.jpg No expense spared: Davenport's 100-room house is on Portland Place
Davenport, who co-founded Gate-Crashers, which organises parties at stately homes and reportedly turned over £250,000 a year at its height, argued that throughout its history the house had regularly been used for entertaining and social events - sometimes on a very grand scale.
He said that the use of the property, which costs £250,000 a year to run, had not been sufficiently intensive to prejudice its primary use as residential premises.
But the judge said he was satisfied the council had established that the requirements of the enforcement notice it served in 2006 had been breached.
There was nothing inherently wrong in Davenport hiring out parts of the building to make money and fund its upkeep, but it represented a change of use and would require planning permission.
Davenport, who says his title is that of 'Lord of the manor of the village of Giffords', claims he inherited the title, although he is also said to have bought it.
Westminster Council welcomed the decision.
Rosemarie MacQueen, the local authority's strategic director for built environment, said: 'This property has been repeatedly used as a venue for parties and has attracted multiple complaints from residents.
'Despite our best efforts to engage with Mr Davenport he has blatantly refused to stop using a residential address for commercial purposes, and has left us no choice other than to take legal action.
'This injunction will at least ensure his neighbours can finally enjoy their home in some degree of peace, without being disturbed at all hours by the large-scale parties which have blighted the local area.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298972/Lord-Edward-Davenport-banned-holding-parties-20m-London-home.html#ixzz0vBsMmLz5