Watch: Ed Sheeran dives in ‘wildlife pond’ having promised neighbours ‘it’s not a swimming pool’

Video shows singer jumping into the lake that had been the subject of a planning row

Ed Sheeran has posted a video of himself diving into a “wildlife pond” after a years-long planning row with neighbours in which he promised them it was not a swimming pool.
The lake has been the subject of controversy in the market town of Framlingham, Suffolk, where the singer and Cherry Seaborn, his wife, live on a vast estate nicknamed “Sheeranville”.
Approval was granted in 2016 for a wildlife pond surrounded by trees on the £3.7 million property, which Sheeran said in planning documents would “support nature conservation” and provide “a natural habitat for insects, amphibians and birds”.
But after he added a jetty and steps to the kidney-shaped pond, Suffolk Coastal district council later made it clear it should not be used for “recreational leisure activity, such as swimming”.
Neighbours soon complained that this no longer appeared to be the case, with residents Kenny and Carol Cattee saying at the time: “The so-called wildlife pond would now appear to be more like a swimming pond.”
After the council investigated the site in 2019, it concluded that there had been no planning breach.
A subsequent appeal by the singer was successful in removing the ban on swimming and other leisure activities, after he argued it was unreasonable and unnecessary.
Since then, Sheeran has appeared to delight in showing off his use of the pond and earlier this week jumped in the water during a video diary posted to his Instagram.
Sheeran and Seaborn can also be seen swimming in the lake in the 2023 documentary about his life titled Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All, which aired on Disney+.
In 2021, he said “people need to mind their own business” about his use of the pond, telling Hit Radio that it was the craziest controversy concerning his property.
“I do get in it – but it’s not a swimming pool,” he said. “It’s essentially a pond. It is grey, filled with tadpoles and swamp stuff.”
He added that photos online made the pond look more blue than in real life, and that it was naturally filtered by the plants in it.
“Before it was there it was like a ploughed field, so there is way more wildlife now, it’s surrounded by 14,000 trees that were planted, which is great for the environment,” he said. “There’s loads of animals, we let the meadow grow up.”
“I just think people need to mind their own business!”
East Suffolk district council, which took over as the local authority in 2019, said it had not received any complaints about Sheeran’s use of the pond and would not be investigating.
Sheeran’s management was contacted for comment.
The multi-millionaire pop star moved to Framlington in 2011 and has long ties to Suffolk, having grown up there since he was three.
Over the past 13 years, he has bought six neighbouring properties to create a vast estate, which includes a pub, a football field and a helipad.
If Sheeran is now using the lake to regularly take a dip, he would join the growing trend for natural swimming ponds, which can be installed for around £75,000.
There are around 2,000 natural swimming ponds in the UK, according to Paul Mercer, of Norfolk-based The Swimming Pond Company.
Installing a pond in your back garden could allow the health-conscious to tap into the benefits of wild swimming, without the pollution risks of diving into a British river.