Do you need permission to instal CCTV cameras in your home? Well that depends on the state and whether they invade your neighbors house or cause an intrusion on their privacy. George Clooney has just recently been granted permission to install a whopping 18 CCTV cameras at his luxury hideaway mansion in England.
His new home must be absolutely massive to need that many cameras! Originally it was implied the cameras could invade on the privacy of his neighbors but the local council in Oxford has allowed him permission to mount cameras up on poles on the grounds of his 10 million GBP country house. The poles were originally planned to be 16 feet high (5m), but this was scrapped after complaints.
George has bought an exquisite listed building overlooking the River Thames to share with his new wife Amal. We suspect George won’t be using cheap surveillance cameras from the likes of Zmodo or Amcrest for the installation. More like a state of the art high end 4K system.
Here’s a bit more info on the incident.
George, 54, and wife Amal, 37, are set to move into the 17th-century Mill House later this year once renovations are complete.
The Grade II listed Aberlash House will be fitted with 10 cameras, and surrounded by eight wooden 18ft poles fitted with further security cameras.
Each camera will be housed in a protective vandal-resistant dome and could be tilted or panned to face in any direction, allowing Clooney and his barrister wife, Amal, to keep watch all around their property.
The scheme was met with heavy criticism from residents and the local parish council. Preparing to move in: George, 54, and wife Amal, 37, are set to move into the 17th-century Mill House later this year once renovations are complete
Eye and Dunsden Parish Council objected to the plans, claiming that the wide range of cameras would represent a ‘potential infringement of the privacy of neighbouring properties.’
It said the poles would be a ‘visual intrusion’ into the village’s conservation area, adding: ‘A more appropriate security system could be achieved by a greater number of inward-facing low-level cameras.’
The couple’s planning agent, Paul Butt, submitted an amended application on July 13 this year which planned to reduce the height of the two tallest CCTV support posts.
Planning bosses rubber-stamped the amended plans, saying they ‘would not be detrimental to the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building or its setting.’
Read more: Daily Mail
George will be able to keep nosy tabloid reporters from invading his property, but we still suspect paparazzi’s will be hanging out of white vans with massive zoom lenses hoping to catch a glimpse of the star or spot some “trouble in paradise” to paste in the papers.