Close to Death

It wasn’t just the parking. What about the swimming pool and Jacuzzi? That was what mattered most to Roderick. We didn’t care about it . . . Adam and me. We live on the other side of the close and we wouldn’t hear all the noise or smell the chlorine. But poor Felicity! She had nothing left in her life except for peace and quiet and the view, and that was all going to be wiped away. How could Richmond Council do that to her? Don’t they have any sense? I have a friend on Richmond Hill – she couldn’t even put in new windows. But the Kenworthys could do anything they liked.

Tom Beresford

In my view, Giles Kenworthy took a petty delight in punishing us, in making life difficult any way he could. That camper van of his. The Union Jack that only went up after he met Andrew. The smoke from the barbecue – it’s funny how he only ever lit it when the wind was blowing our way. And yes, I have to live with the fact that if I had been in my surgery instead of arguing with him about his bloody parked car, Raymond Shaw would still be alive.

But I’m not sure I entirely agree with Adam. The real turning point in all this was the moment when Giles Kenworthy chose not to come to the first meeting – and didn’t even bother telling us until after we’d all arrived. That was when he showed his true colours and after that he seemed to think he could get away with anything he wanted.

Gemma Beresford

Like having poor Ellery killed. How could he do that? That was disgusting!

It was Andrew’s idea to have the second meeting and he was absolutely right. Tom had put up with more than enough. We all had! We had to get together and work something out. That man was going to drive us all mad if we didn’t take some sort of action. None of us could have known what was going to happen. I still don’t quite understand how things turned out the way they did, but we didn’t have any ill intentions. That’s what we have to remember. We were there to look after each other. That’s all. We were just being good neighbours.

Andrew Pennington

Was the meeting my idea? I’m not sure. It came up in conversation with Adam and Teri. Does it really matter? I’m not trying to evade responsibility. Far from it!

There must be a word for it when a group of people, normally quite sane and sensible, have a sort of collective breakdown – that’s how I see it. I’m not for a moment suggesting that Giles Kenworthy deserved what happened to him, but it’s unarguable that he pushed us all over the edge. Some of us were beginning to think that we would have to sell our homes and leave Riverview Close – although that in itself might be problematic because, as I pointed out several times, we would have been obliged to fill in a Property Information Form highlighting our relationship with the Kenworthys and that would have been enough to put any buyer off.

The second meeting took place at The Stables on a Sunday evening – eight days ago. The aim was to explore possibilities, to see if we could find a way out of the situation in which we found ourselves. I was the first to speak once everyone had arrived and I must confess that I didn’t have a great deal to offer. Property law isn’t my speciality and as far as I could see we had limited options.

Riverview Close is controlled by a management company, Riverview Close Ltd, of which I am currently the chairperson. We all have shares and the idea is that, together, we take responsibility for supervision and maintenance, insurance, repairs and antisocial behaviour – although it’s never an easy matter, defining what antisocial behaviour is. The Kenworthys had parties. Their children did a certain amount of damage. There were parking problems. But what could we do? At the end of the day, threatening Giles Kenworthy with legal action might only have exacerbated the issues and could have led to ruinous expenses. Who had the bigger pockets? It was probably him.

And then there was the overarching question of the swimming pool – but this was a matter between the Kenworthys and the local council. Unfortunately, there was a limit to what we could do as we were no more than third parties. The management company had little room for manoeuvre. We could suggest to the council that they had failed to consider the impact of a swimming pool on neighbouring properties, especially given Felicity Browne’s illness. But once planning permission has been given, it’s always very difficult to turn it around.

That’s really what we wanted to talk about, but at the same time I have to admit that we all had rather too much to drink. That’s down to Adam’s generosity, although I also brought wine and so, I think, did May . . .

May Winslow