Sir Captain Tom Moore‘s daughter has refused to knock down a spa and pool extension at her £1.2m home after angry neighbours demanded it be demolished.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, 52, and her husband Colin were granted permission in 2021 to build an L-shaped office building for the Captain Tom Foundation in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
A retrospective application for a larger building containing a spa pool was submitted a year ago after it had been built but was refused last month by the planning authority.
Central Bedfordshire Council said following their decision that an enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the ‘now-unauthorised building’ had been issued and was subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
The couple are now appealing against the notice, saying that the building was ‘no more overbearing’ than a previously approved planning application and the ‘heights are the same’, according to documents.
Sir Captain Tom Moore’s daughter has refused to knock down a spa and pool extension at her £1.2m home after angry neighbours demanded it be demolished
Hannah Ingram-Moore (pictured with her father Sir Tom), 52, and her husband Colin were granted permission in 2021 to build an L-shaped office building for the Captain Tom Foundation in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
Captain Sir Tom Moore raised £38 million for NHS Charities Together in the run up to his 100th birthday during the first lockdown in 2020. He died the following year.
The appeal statement by Mr Ingram-Moore said: ‘The subject building is no more overbearing than the consented scheme.
‘The view is virtually identical save for a pitch roof being added to the elevational treatment. The heights are the same. As such there cannot be an unacceptable overbearing impact.’
It also said the council had ‘no grounds supporting the refusal of the retrospective application’ and ‘requested’ for the inspector to uphold the appeal.
The document also notes that the building is set at the back of the site, meaning it is not an issue for public view.
The council said its reports ‘detail harm caused to the setting of the listed building and, in particular, the significant difference between the two schemes that arises from the lack of sufficient public benefit that has been proposed in respect of the unauthorised building’.
Documents from the local government body also state that the demolition requirement is not ‘excessive’ and the ‘size and scale of the unauthorised building’ has an adverse impact on the Ingram-Moore’s neighbours.
The couple originally submitted an application which stated the building would be used partly in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives’.
But, the foundation made it clear in a statement last month that it had not been aware of the construction work of the building, saying: ‘Had they been aware of any applications, the independent trustees would not have authorised them.’
Ms Ingram-Moore on ITV’s This Morning show in March 2022
The appeal document by Mr Ingram-Moore notes that the building is set at the back of the site, meaning it is not an issue for public view
In August 2021, Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore sought planning permission for a charity office which they said was ‘urgently required’ for presentations and memorabilia
The building was given the green light, but a retrospective application for the spa complex (pictured) made under their own name was refused last year – meaning that they face having to tear that down
Furious locals have also claimed the original L-shaped office space was never built and instead branded the building that the couple had constructed as ‘ugly’, a ‘complete eyesore’ and ‘out of character’ with the local area.
One couple, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It’s never been just offices or just the L-shaped building they asked for, it’s always been what it is now.’
A neighbour who shares a boundary with the Ingram-Moores, added: ‘I only found out when I saw the foundations being laid and they were much bigger and deeper than any plans that I then saw.
‘The original L-shaped offices were never built. It has only ever been that building that is there now.
‘The building is much closer to the walls and boundary than we ever thought. I can’t see anything going on inside though or people going in and out as there are no windows at all.
‘It’s quite high for a supposed one-storey building. It’s definitely high enough to add in a mezzanine if they wanted to. It would be sneaky but they could.’
Locals said a petition to get the larger building demolished had accumulated around 100 signatures, with 20 lodging formal objections with Central Bedfordshire Council on the grounds that it wasn’t in keeping with the area, blocked views and intruded on privacy.
One of the complaints stated: ‘I am shocked at the complete lack of consultation by the applicant with the neighbours on the boundary of the development whose residential amenity has all been severely harmed.’
Objections to the pool spa block planning application from local residents
In August 2021, the couple sought planning permission for a charity office which they said was ‘urgently required’ for presentations and memorabilia.
The building was given the green light, but a retrospective application for the spa complex made under their own name was refused last year.
Central Bedfordshire Council confirmed in a statement that the original application for the office had been approved.
But it added: ‘In February 2022, we subsequently received a retrospective planning application for a ‘part retrospective erection of detached single storey building (revised proposals)’. This was refused.
‘An enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the now unauthorised building was issued and this is now subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.’
Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including gift aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020.
In acknowledgement of his efforts, he was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in summer 2020.
He died in February 2021.
The Captain Tom Foundation was registered on June 5, 2020 following his fundraising efforts. Pictured: Sir Tom and his daughter Hannah celebrate his 100 laps
Sir Tom Moore (pictured front) along with his grandchildren Benji (left), Georgia (middle left), his daughter Hannah (middle right) and her husband Colin Ingram (right) while enjoying the Barbados sunshine in December 2020
Since then, the Charity Commission has opened a formal inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation and its links to a company run by his daughter.
The commission launched a statutory inquiry into the foundation last year over decisions that ‘may have generated a significant profit’ for a company run by the couple.
It said Club Nook Ltd had been given the ‘opportunity to trademark variations of the name “Captain Tom” without objection from the charity, which raised money from branded products including gin and T-shirts.
The commission previously turned down an application for Mrs Ingram-Moore to become the foundation’s chief executive on £100,000-a-year – a salary similar to that run by the heads of major charities.
She was later allowed to take the post on an interim basis on the equivalent of £85,000-a-year. A new CEO is now in place.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk