It started as a friendly request by a neighbour for approval of a building plan in one of Cape Town's most elite beachside suburbs. Six years later it has deteriorated into a spat laden with alleged death threats, a trial and legal bills totalling hundreds of thousands of rands.Bakoven resident Chrissie Phillips is suing her next-door neighbour, businessman Stuart Bradbury, in the High Court in Cape Town for allegedly failing to stick to an agreed building plan. Phillips claims Bradbury has substantially depreciated the value of her home and infringed on her privacy. She wants the court to compel him to demolish parts of his home.Bradbury's house is worth R9.8-million, according to the latest City of Cape Town valuation, and its market value is likely to be significantly higher.story_article_left1The suburb of Bakoven adjoins Camps Bay, playground of the rich and famous, and a two-bedroom house there is on the market for about R11-million.Phillips also accuses the city of abetting Bradbury's alleged illegal building. She said it took her four years to uncover this, during which she spent about R500000 on lawyers.The trial started on Tuesday with a site visit by Judge Lee Bozalek. Phillips said the city served her with a notice for illegally raising her boundary wall to 1.8m while the judge and counsel were on site. She said she had been intimidated by building inspector Stephen Wilkinson in the past."Mr Bradbury has no plans for any retaining wall and has a dwelling that is not on any approved plan," said Phillips."The very nice gentleman who served me the notice ironically served me while the city's attorneys were talking to my attorney, saying they want to strike the death threat from Stephen Wilkinson from the court record."Phillips says in court papers: "It appears that [Bradbury] was dishonest as to his intentions from the outset. The city, rather than requiring demolition of the unlawful works, has been complicit with him in retrospectively authorising the works, which, in fact, it is obliged to compel demolition of."story_article_right2Phillips also says she sought a psychiatrist's help after receiving an e-mail from Wilkinson that read: "My doctor advised me to start killing people, well not in those words. He said I had to reduce the stress in my life. Same thing!!!"Bradbury and the city are defending the action. Bradbury said Phillips had always been aware of his building plan and lodged the legal action only three weeks before he got his certificates of occupancy."She complained regularly, often daily, about the construction activities to my contractor, to the city and me," the legal documents say.He also hit back with a counterclaim against Phillips for erecting a "cheap" structure to keep the dust out of her home. "It blocks out almost entirely any view which I would otherwise have of the ocean to the west. It has the effect of lowering the value of my property."Bradbury declined to comment as the case is continuing.In an affidavit, city official Jacob Theron urged the court not to allow Phillips's application to review the city's decision to approve Bradbury's plans. "The application is ill-conceived and inappropriate," he said. "The dispute is really an acrimonious neighbour dispute."..