With sports fan glued to transfer deadline day, the residents of a Buckinghamshire village had another deadline day looming – the final date for demolition of a £200,000 illegal spa. But this wasn’t any old spa, it was part of a luxury spa pool block erected at the Marston Moretaine home of Hannah Ingram-Moore, better known as the daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore.
And whilst Sir Tom achieved national and international acclaim for his fund raising during the Covid pandemic, his daughter has received only disdain for her actions since.
These include construction of the luxury spa, breaching the terms for a Captain Tom Foundation building for which planning consent had been granted.
Enforcement and appeals followed but ultimately Ms Ingram-Moore was forced to accept the spa had to go – and CambsNews has followed progress with this time lapse video as the demolition workers moved in.
With demolition deadline looming – February 7 – the eyes of the community, and many other across the country and the world, have been focused on events at Marston Moretaine.
Ms Ingram-Moore initially argued the building would be a fitting legacy for her late father but later conceded to bad decision taking.
In the village itself some residents have expressed outrage at the spa but in the main there has been a collective embarrassment at the stain Ms Ingram-Moore has heaped upon them.
“It’s an absolute eyesore – it looks like a prison,” one resident told the media but for most the response was a respectful silence, not of course for Ms Ingram-Moore but for Captain Sir Tom whose efforts, energy and sparkle and given hope to millions.
Ironically, removal of the spa pool comes three years after the death of Capt Sir Tom; he died on February 2, 2021.
