The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the Planning Committee at the Town Hall in Kensington on Thursday evening (16th April). Mr Hoexter and MP Ben Coleman, who is supporting residents, hope to address the committee to demand decisive action.

In this article, Mr Hoexter lays bare the miserable story of “The Neighbour From Hell” who is inexplicably never held to account.

Your readers will have followed the tortuous path to salvation for residents where a derelict house is such a blight that 48 of them signed a petition to get the Council to take action.

Thanks largely to the fine efforts of The Chelsea Citizen, it was fully covered by several national newspapers last November and the petition was presented to a council meeting in the same month.

Things are coming to a crunch when a meeting of the Planning Committee will consider taking action. The issue is relatively simple: the owner was served with a ‘Section 215 Notice’ in 2016, ordering him to carry out works to his garden and rotting house. The Council must now finally enforce this notice.

The terraced house in question is a wreck and a disgrace. Its disused basement has become a wild-life reserve for foxes and rats and the garden is infested with giant knotweed growing to over 12 feet. The last human occupant to rent the basement flat died there. His decomposing remains were only discovered after the stench of decay filled the immediate area.

When the owner of the house ignored the Section 215 and all subsequent enforcement letters, he was taken to court by RBKC and convicted in 2017. Residents expected things to happen, but nothing did. He continued to ignore all communications with complete disdain for his neighbours. 

Residents have battled this man – The Neighbour From Hell, as he might be called – for nine years now, gaining the support of local MP Ben Coleman and help from Marie-Therese Rossi, the local councillor. There have been regular visits from council officers, but they simply took photos, shook heads, sucked in cheeks, then walked away. No effort has been made to gain access to the property – even though the Council has a right to do so.

Residents were then put through the hoops of the Council’s complaints  procedures: not surprisingly, it was referred back to the department about which they were complaining, which – in turn – tried every obstruction and delay.

Read The Citizen’s previous report about this situation HERE

We then had to appeal  to the Information Commissioner to obtain evidence the Council had used in an open court to secure the original conviction – which they had tried to withhold on the grounds of data protection.

Finally, at the end of this exhausting and fruitless process, Mr Stanford Francis – Executive Director for Environment & Neighbourhoods – announced in an email (rather grandly) that he had made his “last communication on the matter”. We have been left high and dry ever since wondering what it will take to resolve this unacceptable situation.

Section 215 gives the council the powers but not the duty to act in situations such as this, ie: action is discretionary. By serving the notice and obtaining a conviction they had already demonstrated that they had exercised their discretionary powers. Despite this, RBKC’s Press Office continued to field questions from journalists covering the story last November by claiming “the Council is powerless to act”.

Planning officers have produced a report for the up-coming Planning Committee meeting that reveals only a tenuous grasp of veracity and consistency. They are recommending that no Section 215 Notice should be issued  – whilst the petition actually requests that the existing Section 215 Notice should be enforced. 

The house in SW10 occupied by “The Neighbour from Hell”

There is confusion and numerous contradictions in the endless correspondence that has evolved from this deplorable situation between residents and the Council. I won’t bore you all with the blow-by-blow, but the knotweed issue is a good example of the tangle the Council finds itself in.

The Senior Solicitor made it clear to the owner that he was not to dispose of it himself. He was ordered to contract a specialist eradication company which would then validate the work. Regardless, Mr Halbritter did it himself and thereby increased the infestation.

In their current recommendation, the planning department then claimed that the knotweed had been cleared at that point. In their report they also claim that “the presence of knotweed remains unconfirmed”. Yet their own officer – Ms Goddard – wrote to me in 2024 to say their arborologist confirmed that the growth was indeed knotweed and that she had ‘advised’ the owner to get it professionally eradicated. 

As regards the other works, they picked up on Page One of an email to me by their officer Martin Perrigo that the owner had done some of the requirements, but omitted to read on Page Two in which he also said that if the owner failed to do the remaining works it could be subject to a further prosecution. Does the left hand know what the right one is doing?

The Mail on Sunday followed The Citizen’s story last year

It is curious to note – although it may, of course, be entirely irrelevant – that Mr Halbritter is a former Conservative councillor who was actually a member of the Council’s Planning Committee. In 2022 he was given a Mayor’s Award for distributing poppies for the British Legion.

Elections are coming. The Planning Committee meeting is a chance for councillors to demonstrate that there is no “them and us”.

SUGGESTED SOLUTION: The time has gone for 215. The council must now issue a 219 Notice. This will give them the legal right to go into the property and complete all necessary works – then charge the home owner. This is the only way this matter can now be sorted out. Nik Hoexter.

Scenes form the horror house on Ifield Road

Claire Walsh, 39, pleaded guilty to dishonestly abusing her position while working as an assistant treasury manager at CFC.

Walsh – who lives in Elm Park Gardens, a short distance from the club’s Stamford Bridge ground – obtained £208,521.65 between June 2019 and October 2023, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Alex Alawode told the court that Walsh exploited her access to the club’s ticketing and finance systems. Chelsea season ticket holders who are unable to attend home matches can list their seats for re-sale through the club’s official exchange, with refunds processed once tickets are resold. Walsh’s role included administering manual refunds.

Inside the Stamford Bridge stadium © Jason Bagley

Mr Alawode revealed that Walsh had been “creating false refunds for tickets that had not been put onto the exchange site”. “No tickets existed,” he added. “She was simply creating a refund as if a ticket did exist on the sheet.”

An internal investigation later uncovered what was described as an unusually high number of manual refunds made to credit cards registered in Walsh’s own name. When confronted by the club, Walsh told managers that her mother was terminally ill and that she had fallen into debt while trying to provide for her family. She resigned from her role immediately.

The court heard that the money had ALL been spent, with some used to support her parents, but vast sums were squandered on gifts, trips and holidays with family and friends.

Walsh, who pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates last November, was given a two-year prison sentence – suspended for 18 months – and ordered to complete up to 25 days of rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Passing sentence, Judge Fiona Barrie said the case amounted to a clear breach of trust. “This is plainly an abuse of trust,” she said. “You held a responsible and trusted position in the finance department and were trusted to handle large sums of money, and you used that position to defraud your employer.”

The judge noted that Walsh, who joined Chelsea Football Club in 2007, had no previous convictions. She said the offence appeared to have been driven by financial pressures and a desire to support her family.

No application for costs or compensation was made by Chelsea Football Club.

A spokesperson for CFC said: “We have worked closely with the police throughout their investigation and are pleased this case has now reached a conclusion.”

The initiative is part of the council’s ‘Amazing Spaces’ streetscape improvement programme, which aims to create more attractive and welcoming public places.

Under the plan, Stratford Road, which is known as a quaint street that is full of character with neighbourhood shops and businesses, would become one-way westbound between Marloes Road and Allen Street, while Radley Mews and Blithfield Street would remain two-way.

Map of the proposed changes © RBKC

One of the key proposals is to widen footways to improve pedestrian movement and create additional space for outdoor dining and planting.

The plans include upgrading footways, carriageways, and kerb lines with high-quality natural stone, although the council notes that the specific stone type will be determined at a later stage, depending on public support for the scheme.

Stratford Road dissects Kensington East-to-West

Changes to traffic and parking arrangements are also being considered. The concept proposes introducing parking bays and a dedicated loading area.

The plans also include improved dropped-kerb crossings and a raised junction at Marloes Road to make it safer for pedestrians to cross.

The Devonshire Arms pub, Stratford Street © Ewan Munro

The council is inviting residents to share their views on the proposed changes and says the feedback will help shape the final design and determine whether the scheme moves ahead. The public consultation is open until 18th January.

For further information, residents can email stratfordroad@rbkc.gov.uk.

Visit here for the proposals: https://consult.rbkc.gov.uk/communities/stratford-road/

RBKC’s reasons for proposing the changes

They will include a built-in barcode scanner that unlocks a drop-down drawer for parcels too large for a traditional slot, allowing customers to send packages, up to the size of a shoebox.

The creepy looking post box in Burnaby Street wrapped in plastic

The biggest redesign in the 175-year history of the iconic red postbox was announced in April, and 3,500 are planned to be introduced nationwide over the coming months

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Our postbox of the future will offer another convenient way for customers to access Royal Mail’s services, alongside home delivery and collection, our Customer Service Points, Post Office branches, lockers and Royal Mail Shop outlets. We’re pleased to see positive feedback from customers in areas where the new postboxes have already been introduced, and we’re hopeful that residents will find the upgraded postbox just as useful and convenient.”

A ‘postbox of the future’ in Northborough © Paul Bryan

As letter volumes decline and parcel shipments surge, the new postboxes could give Royal Mail an edge in the booming second-hand market, fuelled by apps like Vinted.

The substitutions for the more automated postboxes also come less than two months after Royal Mail was fined £21 million by Ofcom for missing delivery targets for first- and second-class mail.