Residents of the well-known Edinburgh suburb of Barnton have expressed their displeasure and frustration after landscaping work at the £2.2 million residence of author J.K. Rowling will cause the closure of a road, causing delays in the school routine of some children, and the anger of their parents.
The 59-year-old creator of the hit Harry Potter book series has requested access restrictions on the road next to her home for about a week. This closure, necessary to carry out trimming of the leylandii hedge surrounding her property, has led to the installation of temporary four-way traffic lights, affecting traffic in the area.
The maintenance work, scheduled between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., has caused parents' annoyance by directly affecting school hours. One of them expressed his displeasure saying: "Why can't they do it during the February holidays? They have times during the day when the roads are quiet. No one else has the road closed to cut the hedge," as he said. as reported by the British media Daily Mail. Another mother pointed out, in the same newspaper, that the measure "makes no sense" as it paralyzes traffic during rush hour and causes many children to arrive late to school.
This is not the first time that the author has caused controversy among her neighbors. In 2011 the writer was given the green light to knock down an adjacent 1970s property, bought for £1m. The aim was to expand her garden, and this action was highly questioned by the Cockburn Association, in charge of the estate, as they lamented the loss of a "perfectly adequate and functional" house. However, the entity did not present formal objections.
A year later, in 2012, Rowling got permission to build two luxurious treehouses in her garden for her two youngest children. This action sparked local protests, due to its size and possible impact on the aesthetics of the surrounding conservation area. However, these did not stop its construction.
Disagreements with neighbors aside, in recent years, the author has faced criticism and violent reactions from transgender activists due to her opinions on women-only spaces and her firm belief in biological sex.
