Nicole Kidman's boat bother

23 December 2008 10:41am

Nicole Kidman is embroiled in a yacht row with her former neighbours.

The Hollywood star has sold her Sydney apartment in the city's prestigious Pier 6/7 in Walsh Bay but contrary to regulations her £2.1 million yacht, Hokulani, is still moored in the harbour.

Residents are furious, according to The Independent, that the strict bylaws regulating Pier 6/7 are apparently being overlooked for Nicole.

The rules - which include dictating where washing may be hung whether gulls may be fed, and allowances for pot plants on balconies - state that only residents can park their yachts in the adjacent marina.

A spokesman for Nicole told the Sydney Morning Herald Hokulani had been left at the marina because she had considered buying another apartment in the same block, which did not happen.

The spokesman claimed the yacht would be moved next week, and denied the Oscar-winning actress was "trying to take advantage of the situation".

"The governing committee would never do anything just because it's her," he added.

An adviser to the owners' corporation, Wally Paterson, agreed the yacht's continuing presence was a breach of bylaws but insisted he was "absolutely adamant everyone gets treated equally no matter who or what they are".

Nicole - who still owns a waterside mansion in Sydney's eastern suburbs - lives mainly in Nashville with her country singer Keith Urban and new baby Sunday Rose.

She usually spends Christmas is Sydney but said recently that she would be staying in Nashville because she was upset by negative reviews of her role in Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann.

© The Press Association