Rolling Stone Richards falls foul of conservation group

A conservation group is fighting plans to reroute a footpath away from the home of Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who complained ramblers could see into the grounds of his rural retreat.

Guitarist Richards won the support of county councillors for the path to be moved away from his home in West Wittering, West Sussex.

They defied a recommendation by council officers that the path should be left alone, saying the star needed protection from “nutters and paparazzi”.

But now Britain’s oldest national conservation group, the 137-year-old Open Spaces Society, has pledged to fight the move, arguing the proposed new route for the path is inferior and that it would be hard for anyone to reach the grounds of Richards’s house Redlands, which is surrounded by a moat.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “The path, which runs along the edge of a field, is well hidden from Mr Richards’s house by thick vegetation, even in winter, and is protected by a wide moat.

“There is no reason why anyone should try to break into the house from the footpath especially as they would have to get across the moat.

“The existing route is very pleasant with wide views. The proposed alternative, round the other side of the field, is greatly inferior.

“Mr Richards has owned Redlands for 36 years. We see no reason to move the path now. We shall fight the plan, at a public inquiry if necessary, to defend people’s rights to continue enjoying this path.”

Richards, 60, bought the house, which has a thatched roof and manicured lawns, in 1966. A year later he and Stones frontman Mick Jagger were arrested by police during a drugs raid at the property.

Jagger’s girlfriend at the time, Marianne Faithfull, was also at the house, reportedly wearing only a bedcover when police burst in.

Jagger was given a jail sentence for drug offences but it was later lifted on appeal. Richards was subsequently cleared at Chichester Crown Court for permitting the house to be used for smoking cannabis.

At a county council rights of way committee meeting in October, which backed Richards’s application to move the path 10 metres, rights of way committee chairman Bill Acraman said: “Someone well known is more vulnerable than you or me. We are well aware of what the paparazzi do. We are well aware of what nutters can do.

“Whether they be Prime Minster or pop star, they are more vulnerable than you or I. I strongly feel we should be able to go the extra mile.”

A band source stressed Richards spent most of his time in Connecticut and only visited his West Sussex house when he “wants some quiet”.

He said Richards was well liked within the community. Three years ago he wrote a cheque for £20,000 (€31,388) to repair the village hall’s roof when someone called at his home asking for a donation.