Family of Captain Sir Tom Moore lose appeal against spa pool demolition order

The family of Captain Sir Tom Moore have lost an appeal against an order to demolish an unauthorised spa pool block at their home.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of the property 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.

After Central Bedfordshire Council issued an enforcement notice in July requiring the demolition of the “unauthorised building”, the Planning Inspectorate has now dismissed the family’s appeal.

The inspector’s decision said: “I accept that the appellant’s intentions are laudable; however, it has not been demonstrated in any detail how all of 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.”

During a hearing in October, chartered surveyor James Paynter, for the appellants, said the spa pool had “the opportunity to offer rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area”.