Cate Blanchett drops plans for beautiful backyard at her £1.6m Cornish eco-home amid fears it will hurt bats

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett has been forced to retreat in a ‘battle of the bats,’ withdrawing plans for a stunning garden at her £1.6m Cornish eco-home after experts warned the project could harm bats.

Oscar winner Cate, 56, had put in grand proposals for the land around her cliff-top property in Mawgan Porth that includes local plants, trees, boulders, and a grass drive.

Mrs Blanchett was given approval back in 2022 to knock down a £1.6million cottage she bought with playwright husband Andrew Upton and replace it with a five-bedroom eco-home in ‘Hollywood on Sea‘.

The couple recently applied to discharge a number of conditions attached to the award of planning permission, including overlighting, landscaping, and shutters.

In the latest application, four different types of lighting feature on the design plan, including eight pole mount path lights, three spike lights under trees, three low-level step lights and four wall lights.

But an ecologist, who was formally consulted on the plans, then wrote to state three of the four lighting options do ‘not comply with the guidance note referenced in the condition wording’.

The condition wording of the original application given permission in 2022 stated: ‘Prior to the use of the dwelling hereby approved, a lighting plan as set out in the submitted ecological report to comply with Bat Conservation trust Guidance Note shall be submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority.’

The previous report recommended outside lighting was ‘minimised where possible.’

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett’s ambitious project began four years ago when they snapped up a £1.6 million coastal property with plans to level it. By 2022, they had the green light to replace the original cottage with a high-tech, five-bedroom ‘green’ home in Cornwall’s increasingly glamorous celebrity hotspot

It added: ‘Where lighting is required for safety or security reasons, it is recommended these are low level, capped to direct light downwards and placed on short timers.

‘Metal halide, fluorescent sources must not be used. LED luminaires to be used where possible due to their sharp cut-off, lower intensity, good colour rendition and dimming capability.

‘A warm white spectrum will be adopted to reduce blue light component. These would conform with Bat Conservation Trust recommendations for lighting.’

According to the Cornwall planning portal the planning application has now been withdrawn.

It states: ‘Confirmation of Withdrawn Application.

‘Submission of details to discharge Condition numbers 3 (Landscaping), 6 (Lighting) and 7 (Shutters) in respect of Decision Notice PA21/12699

‘Cornwall Council, hereby confirms that the above mentioned application has been withdrawn.’

The preliminary appraisal of the building in November 2020 had assessed the building to have some suitability for crevice roosting bats.

A further survey carried out in May 2021, in the main active season for bats, did not reveal any bat emergence from the building or any evidence of bats within the attic space. There were also deemed to be ‘no active bat roosts’ in the building that would be impacted by demolition.

But the report added: ‘As bats were found to forage across the whole area, recommendations are made for a low lighting regime as well as proposals for ecological enhancement of the development.’

Previous planning bids have drawn the ire of neighbors, who argue the development has ‘ruined’ the area’s charm and contributed to a surge in housing costs that is pricing locals out of the market

The couple submitted the latest plans to Cornwall Council on January 20.

They also included the ‘mass planting’ of olearia bushes, sea thrift, ornamental grasses like Ampelodesmos mauritanicus, and the ‘scattering of Cornish boulders’.

The rest of the proposals included installing hardwood decking next to the house, a grass driveway with concrete stabilisation from Greenstones pavers, as well as corten and cornish granite steps leading up to the large property.

The pair hoped to have trailing Muehlenbeckia, a deciduous shrub which can be grown as a climber or ground cover, to create ‘an evergreen curtain draping along the bank’, and place ornamental trees (Phillyrea latifolia) next to the vehicle access site.

They have also proposed a boundary hedge of new Olearia Traversii, climbers to grow over balustrading (Lonicera alseuosmoides) and Oliaria Traversii to plant along their front room roof.

Previous applications regarding the construction of their property have angered locals, who complained their picturesque area had been ‘ruined’ and turned into a ‘building site’ with prices being hiked to ‘unaffordable’ levels.

One holiday home owner accused her of having a ‘total disregard’ for neighbours with the renovations.

Karen Burgess, who owns a nearby holiday let, alleged that ‘noise’ from the construction has ‘destroyed’ the holidays of her guests across the past year.

She claimed to have lost £60,000 in rental revenue due to the construction.

Their arrival led to an influx of celebrities visiting the seaside village, such as David Beckham, Kate Winslet, Noel Gallagher, Jason Statham and Jamie Dornan.