Harry Potter author J K Rowling sparks neighbours’ fury after hedge-trimming works ‘close entire street and make children late for school’
- A road closure to allow hedge trimming at JK Rowling’s home angered locals
- Parents claim their children were late for school due to repairs during rush hour
JK Rowling has angered neighbors after gardening work at her Edinburgh home led to a road closure, leaving some children late for school, their parents claim.
The Harry Potter creator, 59, has demanded access to the road next to her £2.2million home be restricted for a week as the leylandii hedge is cut down.
The pruning, which takes place about every three years, has led to temporary four-way traffic lights outside the author’s home in an affluent suburb of the city. The Times reports this.
Parts of the road will be closed while workers use an aerial platform.
But the maintenance work, which was carried out from 7.30am to 3.30pm, is said to have affected the school run for parents.
JK Rowling has angered neighbors after gardening work at her Edinburgh home led to a road closure, leaving some children late for school, their parents claim
The Harry Potter creator, 59, has demanded access to the road next to her £2.2million home be restricted for a week as her leylandii hedge is cut down
Huge traffic jams stretch along the road outside the author’s home as construction blocks the roads
The pruning, which takes place about every three years, has led to temporary four-way traffic lights outside the author’s home and affluent suburb.
One parent said: ‘Why can’t they do it in the February holidays? They have hours in the day when the roads are quiet.
‘No one else has the street closed to prune their hedge.’
One mother said: ‘There’s no point in stopping rush hour traffic to trim a hedge. (It has caused) my child and many others to be late.
‘I don’t understand why the hedge can’t be done at weekends or at less busy times such as 9.30am to 2.30pm.’
Building applications submitted by the writer for the facade of her house have angered the neighbors several times.
In 2011 she was given permission to demolish the adjacent 1970s property, bought for £1 million, to allow for a garden extension. Heritage watchdog The Cockburn Association questioned the loss of a ‘fully adequate and functional’ house, but made no formal objection.
The following year, Rowling was given permission to build two luxury treehouses in the garden of her home, despite protests from local residents.
Locals had raised concerns that the large size of the treehouses made them visible from the roadside and said they would detract from the appearance of the surrounding nature reserve.
The writer had applied to have the massive structures, estimated to have cost £250,000, built as part of a renovation program at her home.
They are intended for her two younger children, who each got their own two-story house. They are each almost 12 meters high and have secret tunnels and bay windows.
Rowling’s Harry Potter series has sold more than 500 million books worldwide, making her one of the few billionaire authors.
She has faced backlash from transgender activists in recent years for her outspoken defense of women-only spaces and her firm belief in biological sex.
JK Rowling has been contacted for comment.