Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family lose spa demolition appeal

The family of Capt Sir Tom Moore have lost a planning application appeal against the demolition of an unauthorised home spa in their garden.

The celebrated fundraiser’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband had appealed against the order by Central Bedfordshire Council.

They used the Captain Tom Foundation name on the first plans, with a revised application then turned down.

The Planning Inspectorate dismissed the appeal after a hearing last month.

The family have been given three months to comply with the existing demolition order.

In a letter announcing the decision, Inspector Diane Fleming said the “scale and massing” of the partially-built building had “resulted in harm” to The Old Rectory, the family home and a Grade II listed building in Marston Moretaine.

Capt Sir Tom walked 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden at the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, raising £33m for NHS Charities Together.

The army veteran, who was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, died in 2021 aged 100.

The building, on the grounds of the family home where he completed his charity walk, was originally approved for the use of the occupiers and the Captain Tom Foundation, and was granted planning permission in August 2021.

During the Planning Inspectorate hearing the council said it had been impressed upon them that the building was urgently needed for foundation activities and primarily to house memorabilia.

It had been partially constructed when a revised application was submitted to Central Bedfordshire Council in February 2022, which included a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen “for private use”.

The revised plans, for what was called the Captain Tom Building, were turned down by the council in November 2022.

During the hearing, representatives for the family said the building would enable the public to enjoy Capt Tom’s work and the spa pool would offer “rehabilitation sessions”.

The rest of the building would be used for coffee mornings and charity meetings to combat elderly loneliness, the hearing was told.

However, Ms Fleming said while the appellant’s intentions were “laudable”, there was no detailed evidence of how this would work in practice.

“In the absence of any substantiated information, I find the suggested public benefit would therefore not outweigh the great weight to be given to the harm to the heritage asset,” she stated in her decision.

During the hearing, family lawyer Scott Stemp said the foundation was “unlikely to exist” in the future.

Mr Stemp, representing the Ingram-Moore family, said: “It’s not news to anybody that the foundation, it seems, is to be closed down following an investigation by the Charity Commission.”

Source: bbc.co.uk