In his day job as Blackstone’s chief executive, Stephen Schwarzman is used to dealing with slimy adversaries conspiring to prevent him from getting his way.
But now the private equity boss is facing a similar problem in a more personal capacity, after the potential presence of an endangered species of newt has prevented him from building a lake on his £80m estate in Wiltshire.
Schwarzman, who co-founded Blackstone in 1985 and helped it become one of the world’s most successful private equity firms, has, among other opulent plans, been looking to build a lake and decorative structure known as an “eyecatcher” at his home counties pad, Conholt Park.
The money-man bought the 17th century estate in 2022, and in the following two years has been battling overzealous planning committees and environmental bodies who have stifled Schwarzman’s plans even though the amphibious species, known as the Great Crested Newt (GCN), was judged “unlikely” to host GCNs.
After a laborious planning process the application was approved in may, but, according to planning documents, only on the condition that Schwarzman and his wife Christine adhere to a “habitat mitigation and enhancement” plan hatched up by third party consultants.
During the lengthy construction process, the private equity mogul will need to submit the site to a weekly biodiversity audit, and an on-site ecologist to supervise crews, as well as timing construction to avoid amphibian hibernation.
And while Schwarzman may be used to being waited on by staff in white silk gloves, should his builders come across a member of the threatened species, they will have to don a pair themselves before they pick up the troublesome newt and continue their construction work.
So annoyed at the situation is Schwarzman, that he is reported to have brought it up at a private dinner he had with Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Tuesday night.
The pair also discussed Schwarzman’s other big interest in the UK planning system, an enormous data centre in Blyth that is set to bring £10bn to the Northumberland town and surrounding region, but has itself had to go through a lengthy planning process.
Reeves is said to have assured Schwarzman that she was doing everything she could to expedite the development as part of her recently announced measures to unclog the planning system, according to the Financial Times.