Captain Tom‘s family have been ordered to pull down a luxury spa built in their garden after losing an appeal.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building on disused tennis courts at their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
The L-shaped building was given the green light, but the planning authority refused a subsequent retrospective application in 2022 for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool.
Central Bedfordshire Council subsequently served an enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the “now-unauthorised building” was issued – but the family appealed and a hearing was held last month.
Now, the Planning Inspectorate has published its decision, dismissing the appeal, meaning the family have three months to remove the facility. Inspector Diane Fleming said the size of the partially-built spa had “resulted in harm” to the family home, a Grade II-listed building.
The luxury spa at the family home was caught in footage as part of Piers Morgan Uncensored
(@PiersMorganUncensored/youtube)
The case has attracted national attention due to controversy over the spending of money raised by The Captain Tom Foundation, which gathered more than £1m in donations.
Last year, The Independent revealed that £54,039 was paid from The Captain Tom Foundation, established in 2020, to two companies run by Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.
And earlier this month Ms Ingram-Moore admitted keeping £800,000 from three books the late army veteran had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity.
The foundation has since been closed to donations amid an ongoing inquiry into its finances by the Charity Commission.
A view of the building (bottom of the picture) at the centre of the appeal. It was intended to be L-shaped, but appears to have since become a larger C-shaped building
(PA)
At the planning appeal hearing attended by Ms Ingram-Moore last month, chartered surveyor James Paynter, for the family, said the scheme had “evolved” to include the spa pool which could be used to offer rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area.
“They felt this extra limb to create a C-shape was needed to create this facility,” he said.
But Richard Procter, planning enforcement team leader for Central Bedfordshire Council, said no information had been provided to the council about the use of the spa for the initial approved planning application.
Several neighbours attended the hearing, with one arguing that the building is “49% bigger than what was consented” and was close to his property, adding: “It’s very brutal.”
In her written decision on the appeal, Ms Fleming said: “To summarise, it has not been demonstrated that there is unacceptable harm to either the character and appearance of the area or local residents, having regard to their living conditions in terms of outlook, subject to the imposition of appropriate conditions.
Captain Tom Moore with his family including his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore
(PA)
“However, the scale and massing of the building has resulted in harm to The Old Rectory which I find suggested conditions would not overcome.”
In a written appeal statement to the appeal, Mr Ingram-Moore said the heights of the approved and built buildings “are the same”.
In an emotional interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV aired last month, Ms Ingram-Moore said she had “regret” over the building a spa and pool complex at their £1.2m home. “We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one,” she said.
Captain Tom, who was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in the summer of 2020, died in February 2021.
More follows on this breaking news story….