As the world burns, the richest and most privileged people in America are getting good and fired up — over a small park.

We hear there was a packed town meeting in Southampton last week to address dastardly plans to force a public park on the village.

What’s more, it would be designed by Peter Marino — the internationally renowned architect who has helmed some of the most stunning buildings in the world of luxury fashion, including various Chanel shops, the Louis Vuitton store on Rodeo Drive and the new Cheval Blanc building in Paris — replete with rose gardens, sculptures and woodland trails.

The nerve!

Billionaire John Paulson — famous for shorting the housing market in 2007 — is offering to sell some of his 10-acre Old Trees estate, which borders the town’s Agawam Lake, to a conservancy for some $13 million (which, believe it or not, we’re told is a steal) for the project.

But Page Six hears locals are horrified by the plan — largely because it will cause some inconvenience, and most people in Southampton are far too wealthy to have any use for a public park anyway.
“People from all walks of life use Central Park, so it makes sense to invest in it,” said a local, “but everyone in Southampton has their owns grounds . . . There’s the beautiful beach. It just doesn’t make sense to create problems to build a public park. Southampton is the last place that needs a public park.” In fact, they added, “There’s already a park in Southampton and nobody uses it.”

Locals claim the construction of the peerless idyll would mean at least the temporary — and possibly permanent closure — of Pond Lane, home to some of the priciest homes in the town.

As of Tuesday, some 1,500 people had signed a petition against closing the road.

The struggles of the good people of Southampton really put the election, the war in Ukraine, rampant wildfires and the trial of the former president into perspective.