COMPLEX ISSUE
Demolition of spa complex at Captain Tom’s family home begins as builders erect scaffolding at controversial site
Locals nearby are thrilled to see the building torn down as they blast Hannah Ingram-Moore
TIME has run out for the controversial spa at Captain Tom's family home as builders were seen setting up on site ahead of its demolition.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and husband Colin lost their fight to keep the luxury complex after being ordered to tear it down by February 7.
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Today, workmen from C Jackson and Sons were spotted in orange high-vis jacket inspecting the property.
The Bedfordshire company has been employed by Hannah to pull down the "unauthorised" building.
Scaffolders were seen on site with their equipment following days of removal vans emptying the spa.
A low-loader lorry entered the back garden and a workman confirmed: “We are putting scaffolding up today.
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"The pool will be removed before the building is knocked down on Monday.”
Personal belongings and Captain Tom's achievement plaques, including a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and Guinness Book of Records certificate, were snapped being hauled out in boxes over the weekend.
And, residents of the village say the nation treasure's legacy has now been "tarnished" at the hands of his daughter.
He raised almost £40 million for the NHS during the Covid pandemic and the Second World War veteran was knighted for his achievements.
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Determined Captain Tom won the nation's heart as he completed 10 laps of his garden each day, smashing his original £1,000 goal.
Frustrated local Ian Knight told the : “We were proud of what he’s done but now we’re the laughing stock.
“They’ve spoilt everything. It was a good thing what he’s done, and now it’s embarrassing.”
Meanwhile furniture from the doomed spa complex and other items were seen wheeled out in green carts.
Piles of black bin bags, abandoned exercise machines and pots of paint have also been dumped outside the £1.2million Bedfordshire mansion.
On Friday, workmen were seen erecting blue tarpaulins around the building in preparation for the demolition.
CHARITY CONTROVERSIES
Hanna and Colin initially claimed the spa was to be used partly "in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives" in 2022.
This was hugely different to their original proposal to build a small charity office in the name of the Captain Tom Foundation in 2021.
However, their foundation actually stopped receiving donations in June 2022 after an investigation was launched which escalated to a statutory inquiry.
The Charity Commission launched a probe after the charity's accounts showed it had given £160,000 in charitable grants while £240,000 was spent on management and fundraising costs.
Meanwhile, in its first year of operation, more than £54,000 was reimbursed to Club Nook Limited and Maytrix Group Limited, controlled by Hannah and her husband.
The Council’s position is that the building is wholly different to the application.”
Richard Proctor
Hannah previously spoke about the ordeal with TalkTV's Piers Morgan and admitted to pocketing money from the £39million NHS fund-raising veteran in the bombshell interview.
She said: "We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one."
Hannah and husband Colin then lost their fight to overturn the council decision to tear down the complex.
The Planning Inspectorate ruled the spa was built illegally and would have to be pulled down in three months.
The couple had six weeks to rescue it after losing a court case in October - but failed to launch an appeal.
A court heard their retrospective plans, submitted in 2022, later "evolved" to include the spa pool, with changing rooms, toilets and showers to sit alongside their £1.2million home.
How Captain Sir Tom Moore rose to fame & his daughter's controversies
- March 2020 - D-Day veteran Captain Tom Moore walks 100 laps around his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday, raising £30million for the NHS during the first lockdown.
- April 2020 - Captain Tom reaches No. 1 in the charts with his cover of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. He receives 100,000 cards for his 100th birthday, which is marked with a Battle of Britain flypast. A train is named after him.
- July 2020 - Captain Tom is knighted by the Queen in a special private ceremony at Windsor Castle.
- September 2020 - Hannah Ingram-Moore launches the Captain Tom Foundation to combat loneliness.
- December 2020 - Drones swarm into the shape of Captain Tom's face at the New Year's Eve firework display in London.
- February 2021 - Captain Sir Tom Moore dies after catching covid-19.
- February 2022 - The Charity Commission launches a probe into the Captain Tom foundation after it paid £50,000 to companies run by Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.
- July 2023 - The foundation stops accepting donations. Planning chiefs order Hannah to tear down an unauthorised spa at her Bedfordshire home. The building had been approved to be used "in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives". But a larger building with a spa pool was built instead and was denied retrospective planning permission. Hannah appeals.
- September 2023 - accounts reveal Hannah received more than £70,000 to head the foundation.
- October 2023 - Hannah loses her appeal and is ordered to demolish the spa and restore the garden to its original condition.
- January 2023 - Demolition work begins
Chartered surveyor James Paynter, speaking for the family, suggested it could be used for "rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area".
But Richard Proctor, Planning Enforcement Team Leader, said: “The Council’s position is that the building is wholly different to the application.”
Meanwhile, Inspector Diane Fleming said the "scale and massing" of the building had "resulted in harm" to The Old Rectory - the Grade II listed family home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
As well as tearing the spa down, the family will need to remove all building materials and restore the land to its "former condition".
The court was also told the Foundation will be shut down when a probe by the Charity Commission is over.
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When the foundation stopped taking donations a spokesperson said: "At this moment in time, the sole focus of The Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it cooperates fully with the ongoing Statutory Inquiry by the Charity Commission.
"As a result, The Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors."
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