Wayne and Coleen Rooney accused of turning village into a ‘footballers’ housing estate’

Wayne and Coleen Rooney have been accused of turning a picturesque village into a ‘footballers’ housing estate’ as a parish council takes a swipe at the couple’s £20million mansion which has been likened to a Morrisons supermarket.

Ollerton with Marthall Parish Council posted a five-minute video onto YouTube centering around a neighbour’s bid to build a barn at Ryecroft Farm, next to the Rooney family home in Knutsford, Cheshire.

The council said it was concerned that, once built, the barn would be used as a home rather than for sheep farming as the applicant claimed.

In a video criticising those plans, the council dragged in the Rooneys and their redevelopment of the neighbouring Mount Pleasant Farm.

Without naming the famous couple, the council urged planning authorities to oppose the neighbouring application to ‘prevent the conversion of this part of Cheshire into a footballers’ housing estate’.

The six-bedroom mansion Wayne and Coleen had been building since 2017 was still surrounded by cranes and workmen in early 2020 but was completed later that year

Ollerton with Marthall Parish Council posted a five-minute video onto YouTube centering around a neighbour’s bid to build a barn at Ryecroft Farm (pictured, plans for that application), next to the Rooney family home in Knutsford, Cheshire

Wayne Rooney completed a football pitch with top class facilities at his £20million mega-mansion with 40 acres of land that he and his wife Coleen had been constructing for almost three years

Dream home: Mr and Mrs Rooney and their four sons (pictured together in a photo published in 2020) were believed to have moved in to the property last year

A source told The Sun that the line was ‘clearly aimed at the Rooneys’ and their £20million mega-mansion which was completed last year.

The former footballer’s dream mini-football stadium is complete with managers’ dugouts, changing rooms and even an area for spectators.

The six-bedroom Cheshire pile, unkindly compared in its design to an out-of-town Morrisons superstore, also has an artificial pitch measuring up to 60,000 sq ft in its expansive 40 acres of grounds.

Social media users compared the Rooney family’s lavish new abode – which is believed to have its own cinema room and a swimming pool – to either a Morrisons or Tesco.

One person wrote online: ‘Looks like my local Morrisons supermarket. £20million for that?’

Another said: ‘Surely that is a new Tesco build…?’ – others even compared it to a Travelodge hotel. 

The council said it was concerned that, once built, the barn would be used as a home rather than for sheep farming as the applicant claimed 

Its plush garage has room for six cars and the stables (pictured) have room for 14 horses plus a hay store and a tack room

His three-storey mansion deep in the Cheshire countryside boasts an incredible array of facilities

A number of people on social media compared the Rooney home’s design to a supermarket, such as this Morrisons in Sunderland 

The village hall at Marthall. Ollerton with Marthall Parish Council has accused the Rooneys of turning Knutsford into a ‘footballers’ housing estate’

Referring to the neighbouring application, Ollerton with Marthall Parish Council said: ‘There has been building on this site for over ten years, with less than 45 acres of farmable land now remaining.

‘There is not enough land left to farm or justify barns of this size. The applicant and his family’s primary business is property development, not farming.

‘This is a plan devised to fail. Once the business fails, the barn will be converted into yet another house . . . to create what has become a collection of very, very large houses.

‘We, as a parish council, ask that you stand against this application to protect the green belt and prevent the conversion of this part of Cheshire into a footballers’ housing estate.’

The video was posted on the council’s YouTube page and was also sent to the planning authority at Cheshire East Town Council.

The Rooneys and Ollerton with Marthall Parish Council have been approached for comment.