When the No 1 female British tennis player said that she wanted to spend some of her prize money on buying her parents a place in the country, observers smiled. Johanna Konta was regarded as a dutiful daughter wishing to thank her long-suffering mother and father for having devoted themselves to supporting her sporting ambitions.
The finer details of her plan, however, have provoked an uproar. She wants to build a bespoke home for her parents on the edge of Ashdown Forest, the inspiration for AA Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.
Conservation experts claim that the building off the A22 at Wych Cross would mean the destruction of ancient woodland.
