Captain Tom Moore’s family object to home spa demolition notice | Captain Tom Moore

The family of Captain Sir Tom Moore have objected to an enforcement notice ordering them to pull down an unauthorised spa pool block at the home of the late charity fundraiser.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, daughter of the army veteran, and her husband, Colin, were granted permission in 2021 to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

The local authority granted permission for the single-storey structure to be built on the tennis courts at the Grade II-listed home.

But in February 2022, the family submitted revised plans for the already partly constructed building, including for a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen.

In November 2022, Central Bedfordshire council refused retrospective planning permission for the revised plans for the building, against which some residents have reportedly objected.

The council said last month 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.

In documents appealing against the notice, the family said the building was “no more overbearing” than a previously approved planning application and the “heights are the same”.

The appeal statement, by Colin 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.

Moore raised £38.9m 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 lockdown in April 2020.

In acknowledgment 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.