YouTube royalty Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes have been absent from social media for six months, but local planning documents reveal they have been busy with a rural project that has sparked a dispute in a quiet West Sussex village. The couple, known to millions as Zoella and PointlessBlog, last posted a vlog on Christmas Eve 2025, and Zoe's final Instagram update was on New Year's Day 2026.
Planning application details
Alfie Deyes recently acquired a five-acre plot just north of their West Sussex home and submitted a planning application to the local council. The plans include a tractor parking area, a donkey enclosure and stable, a wildlife pond, and three shepherd huts. However, parts of the development—such as 2.1-metre-high boundary fencing and new access gates—were installed before official permission was granted, causing friction with neighbours.
Residents of the adjacent lane have lodged formal objections, citing safety hazards from the new access point onto a private lane also used as a public bridleway. They fear heavy vehicles needed for donkey care will cause disruption and damage mature tree root systems. The Hurstpierpoint Society criticised the retrospective work and lamented the clearance of scrub and woodland that served as a wildlife corridor. They also called the shepherd huts “incongruous” in the rural setting, with neighbours worried about light pollution near the South Downs International Dark Sky Reserve.
Support and objections
In correspondence with the council, Alfie's planning agent clarified that the shepherd huts are not for residential or Airbnb use. Instead, they will store beekeeping equipment, land maintenance tools, donkey feed, and serve as a daytime rest room by the wildlife pond. Despite the backlash, several immediate neighbours support the project, calling it a low-impact, sustainable return to the land's historical agricultural roots. They praise the new wildlife pond as a genuine ecological asset.
West Sussex County Council's Highways and Public Rights of Way departments have raised no objections, noting the private access does not severely impact the public highway network. Archaeological consultants have requested a monitoring condition be attached to any approval, as the site sits near a confluence of former Roman roads with high potential for significant ancient remains.
While subscribers eagerly await their return to YouTube, it is clear that off-camera, the couple is fully occupied with their new rural ventures.
