An American private equity billionaire is trucking up to 13,000 gallons of water daily to his country estate in Wiltshire, drawing anger from neighbours who face hosepipe bans amid a drought following the warmest spring on record.
Stephen Schwarzman, 79, the boss of Blackstone and one of Wall Street’s most powerful financiers, bought Conholt Park, near Andover, for £82 million four years ago. The 2,100-acre estate is now receiving daily tanker deliveries to water newly planted trees, according to The Mail on Sunday.
Last year the estate admitted using tanker water to fill an ornamental lake, a move that led Southern Water to ban the delivery companies involved from using its standpipes. Although the lake is now full, deliveries from an unknown source have continued.
The estate is supplied by Wessex Water and is not under a hosepipe ban, but it falls within the southern England drought area identified by the Environment Agency.
Steve Kershaw, 68, who has lived in the nearby village of Tangley for 40 years, said the situation was causing uproar among locals. He noted the estate’s grounds were far greener than neighbours’ bleached lawns.
Another resident questioned why Schwarzman could not draw on the nine million litres already held in his ornamental lake, and asked whether water companies had contacted him the way they had been contacting ordinary residents caught using hosepipes.
A source close to Schwarzman said he was ensuring local water resources were not affected. A second source said all water brought to the estate was supplied through licensed providers and sourced lawfully.
Some neighbours praised Schwarzman, who has a fortune of £30 billion, for creating jobs, engaging with local councils and planting trees. Tanker firm Greens H20, whose trucks have been seen making daily deliveries to Conholt Park, did not respond to a request for comment.
