George is speaking out in an attempt to stop a multi-millon dollar development that could ruin the peace and beauty of Lake Como - not to mention that of his lakeside villa. There are plans to build three new parking areas, with lift access down to the lake, and a floating pontoon walkway in the small bay in front of Clooney’s property, Villa Oleandra.

The small public beach next to the villa - which he tried unsuccessfully to buy two years ago to ensure his privacy - will be paved over to form a lakeside piazza leading to the pontoon.

However, Clooney, who spends three to four months a year at Lake Como, said he feared that the tourist influx, for which the parking facilities were needed, had followed him there. “I don’t want my presence to disturb the lives of the people who live here,” he told Corriere della Sera. “But we will all suffer from these building projects.”

He said that he could always sell up and “look for peace and privacy somewhere else”. But he preferred to stay at Como, and was convinced that the majority of local residents were opposed to the development.

“If this plan goes ahead it will completely change the appearance of the town and the lakeside,” he said.

“Italy should be defending its wonderful landscape. The roots of its future lie in its past.”

The actor who lives almost as a recluse at the villa, doesn’t want that recluse status altered.

(Splash)

More photos of George Clooney riding his Harley are after the jump.

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