Britain's top planning barrister is locked in row with furious neighbours after putting up rooftop pergola at £3m London townhouse without planning permission

Britain's top planning barrister is locked in an extraordinary row with furious neighbours after erecting a timber pergola on the roof of his £3million west London home – without obtaining planning permission.Charlie Banner KC – the country's foremost expert on labyrinthine planning rules – is at the centre of a bitter dispute over the rooftop structure at his family's elegant Kensington townhouse.The wooden pergola – draped in faux shrubbery and festoon-style lights – appeared this summer on the terrace of the Victorian mews house shared by the 46-year-old silk, his high-flying barrister wife Tetyana Nesterchuk, 43, and their two children.But the new addition, intended to create a refuge from the intense London heat, has enraged some of the couple's well-heeled neighbours.They say the structure looms large over their homes and blocks out light and should have been signed off by council planners first.Lord Banner – a friend of former PM Rishi Sunak – and his Ukrainian wife are said to emphatically reject any suggestion that they deliberately tried to sidestep the planning system.The couple and their planning agents believe that the pergola did not, and does not, require planning consent as a temporary-style structure.A source close to the family last night described local objections as 'vexatious' and 'classic NIMBYism'.The pergola sprang up above the family's three-storey home in July and soon after prompted a complaint to Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea officials. A pergola erected on the family home's roof overlooking Thistle Grove has sparked fury among neighbours Charlie Banner was voted the top planning KC in Britain in the 2025 and 2026 editions of Planning Magazine's annual legal survey Lord Banner is good friends with former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with the pair pictured here together at Lord's in 2023One particularly incandescent neighbour, a first-time mother with a six-month-old baby, said the pergola 'dominates every view across all our floors'.Objecting to a retrospective planning application submitted by Ms Nesterchuk, she alleged: 'While retrospective applications are legally permitted...it should not obscure the clear, demonstrable harm this structure inflicts on neighbouring properties, the streetscape, and, most importantly, our family's quality of life.'A council planning officer subsequently informed the couple that it was regarded as 'unpermitted' and warned that enforcement action could follow if permission was found to have been necessary.Those close to the family say a retrospective planning application was submitted 'out of an abundance of caution and to preserve goodwill'.The pergola, which is covered by artificial vegetation, has since attracted both comments of objection and support from neighbours ahead of a looming council decision.Those against include the new mother, who said the 'intrusive' construction had been 'incredibly stressful and upsetting for [her] family'.The neighbour – who comes from a hugely wealthy banking family – told the Daily Mail: 'I was in such a blur after having the baby, but one day noticed they had put up this wooden structure – and it keeps getting bigger with more parts added.'You can see it from every front window on all three floors. It's always there. It blocks light from coming into our rooms, especially in the morning.'They've also strung up some lights which glare off the screen when I'm trying to watch TV.'Clearly they should have applied for permission, but I'm worried that it will just be waved through because of who he is.'The woman told the council in her written objection it was 'especially depressing' that where their baby would previously have been able to 'look out and see the sky', the view is instead 'dominated' by the false green shrubbery.Lord Banner and Ms Nesterchuk deny acting improperly, and a source close to the family dismissed the complaint as a 'revenge operation' containing what they described as 'demonstrable untruths'.The row has an added twist because Lord Banner is no stranger to the intricacies of the UK planning system.He was voted Britain's top planning KC in the 2025 and 2026 editions of Planning Magazine's annual legal survey and has worked on some of the most significant planning cases of recent years, including HS2 and the expansion of Heathrow.Ms Nesterchuk is a very successful commercial lawyer and was once named among the UK's 'top 100' barristers. The couple have both been sanctioned by the Kremlin over their advocacy for Ukraine.One neighbour described the pergola in a redacted objection as 'large, dense and visually dominant' and said its effect was felt 'continuously from inside our home, not only from the street'.Another warned that allowing it to stay would create a 'dreadful precedent'.A further resident raised fears about fire spreading between rooftops because of the draped artificial foliage - although it is understood that the greenery is made from fire-retardant material.At the time of writing, 12 letters of support had been received by the council, with three signed as the 'occupiers' of nearby addresses.But when approached by the Daily Mail, one of those households denied having submitted documents to the council, and said they did not even know the pergola existed.One supporter told the council it was in the neighbourhood's interest to have 'high quality pergolas' on terraces, saying they provided much-needed shade during increasingly hot summers. Households overlooked by the timber structure draped with fake plants say it is unsightly and looms over the street Lord Banner with his wife, Tetyana Nesterchuk, herself a high-flying lawyer The bushy green pergola is visible from every window at the front of the houses opposite It stands considerably higher than the surrounding rooftops, most of which do not have terracesAnother resident said they had inspected the pergola and found it 'both complemented the roof terrace and made it more usable by the occupants'.A third supporter said the greenery was 'very attractive and of high quality', adding: 'This long hot summer and future climate predictions certainly give rise to the need for shade - my personal opinion is it looks very attractive.'They added: 'I am certainly in favour of [the council] closely scrutinising any changes to existing buildings in order to preserve the environment which we have inherited and are fortunate to live in.'And I have approached my response accordingly as a resident of 20 years. In this case I can see no possible objection.'The townhouse sits inside a conservation area, where architectural and cosmetic changes are closely controlled.Planning documents lodged on Ms Nesterchuk's behalf say the structure was installed principally to provide shade for the permitted roof terrace.A source close to the Banner family told the Daily Mail: 'It is the family's view and that of their professional advisers that the pergola does not require planning permission, which is why planning permission was not originally sought - in line with the other fencing and shading paraphernalia on nearby roof terraces.'When the council nonetheless asked that permission be applied for, this was promptly done out of an abundance of caution and to maintain goodwill.'No enforcement action has been taken and the application has received an overwhelming level of support from neighbours and the local residents' association.'There are – by a considerable order of magnitude – many more supporters than objectors as the council website makes clear.'Lord Banner made headlines in 2022 after he was escorted off a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Italy by police following a row over his family nanny being downgraded to economy.He said at the time the incident was 'very upsetting' for his family and accused cabin crew of treating them appallingly.BA claimed he had been 'disruptive' and said there had been no spare seat in business class. The airline added that the safety of customers and crew was its top priority.Later that year he was elevated to the House of Lords after being nominated by Mr Sunak, whom he attended Oxford University with.Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council said: 'We can confirm an application for retrospective permission has been received and we are currently consulting with neighbouring residents before a decision is made.'Do you have a story? Email patrick.harrington@dailymail.co.uk