Sarah Beeny, a TV presenter, has been in an eight-year battle to keep an 'illegal' building at her Somerset estate. She has submitted a fresh planning application to preserve the building despite being refused permission by the local council and failing on appeal.
Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - Sarah Beeny 's furious neighbours want her farmhouse torn down like Captain Tom's daughter's spa as the TV star continues her eight-year battle to keep 'illegal' building.
After being told to tear down the 'mini-Downtown Abbey' at her Somerset estate, the TV presenter has submitted a fresh planning application to preserve the building despite being refused permission by the local council, and failing on appeal. Sarah and husband Graham Swift have fought a bitter eight-year war with local residents and the council to completely overhaul their rural estate in Stoney Stoke, Somerset, which they bought for £3M in 2018.
She had put in numerous planning applications to the point that one local compared her to Captain Tom Moore's daughter. Hannah Ingram-Moore built an illegal spa complex at her house in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, claiming it was partly being used by her late father's charity, but the council ordered her to tear it down. Neighbour Kevin Flint said: 'It's created a lot of bad feeling in the village.
'She was given permission to build the new house on condition she knocked down the old one which she extended and refurbished, it's just not on. 'She thinks she can move down here and ride roughshod over everybody but it's not going to happen.
After being told to tear down the 'mini-Downtown Abbey' at her Somerset estate, the TV presenter has submitted a fresh planning application to preserve the building despite being refused permission by the local council, and failing on appeal (Pictured: Sarah Beeny, her husband Graham Swift and their four sons Rafferty, Billy and Charlie). Sarah and husband Graham Swift have fought a bitter eight-year war with local residents and the council to completely overhaul their rural estate in Stoney Stoke, Somerset, which they bought for £3M in 2018.
Neighbour Kevin Flint (pictured) said: 'I think the fair thing would be for anything unauthorised on the site to be demolished like Captain Tom's daughter.
' Six years after agreeing to knock down the original 1970s farmhouse - which featured on her Channel Four show, New Life in the Country - they, instead, extended the building without planning permission. When they sought approval retrospectively from Somerset Council, they were refused in September 2024, and lost a Planning Inspectorate appeal in February last year.
In the last 15 months, there have been discussions with the council regarding its demolition and, in December, council officials said that they'd met with Sarah and Graham at their home, adding: 'As a result of this meeting, a clear list of actions and a timetable for implementing these actions has been agreed.
' But now they've submitted a new application to Somerset Council. They were given permission in 2020 to build a new farmhouse, but with the condition attached that they demolish the old one. They want that condition removed 'to allow the retention of the original farmhouse' and admit in the planning statement that it 'has not been demolished but remains vacant'.
They also won approval to build five new dwellings converted from agricultural buildings - this was renewed until March 2029 due to the ongoing planning issues. Sarah's planners Avalon Planning & Heritage are arguing in the new application that if they only convert four - not five - barns, keep the original farmhouse and the new one, that totals six dwellings.
The planning permission currently in place is for the same amount of dwellings - but five conversions and the new farmhouse. In return for approving the scheme, Avalon Planning & Heritage have drafted a new Section 106 agreement, which they say would give the council more control over future planning applications and 'restrict the amount of development at Stokeford Farm to that which either already exists or benefits from consent'.
They argue the new plan fits in with the council housing supply strategy - preserving a building is better than knocking it down. Hannah Ingram-Moore built an illegal spa complex at her house in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, claiming it was partly being used by her late father's charity, but the council ordered her to tear it down (Pictured: The demolition process taking place in February 2024).
Six years after agreeing to knock down the original 1970s farmhouse - which featured on Sarah's Channel Four show, New Life in the Country - they, instead, extended the building without planning permission. Sarah had put in numerous planning applications to the point that one local compared her to Captain Tom Moore's daughter.
'As such the benefits of retaining an existing dwelling in the wider context of both a local and national housing deficit should prevail in the planning balance here,' state documents
Sarah Beeny Farmhouse Torn Down Illegal Building Channel Four Show New Life In The Country Somerset Council Planning Application Section 106 Agreement Preserving A Building Benefits Of Retaining An Existing Dwelling Local And National Housing Deficit Captain Tom Moore's Daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore Marston Moretaine Bedfordshire Illegal Spa Complex Riding Roughshod Over Everybody Bad Feeling In The Village Stoney Stoke Somerset £3M In 2018 Avalon Planning & Heritage Section 106 Agreement Council Housing Supply Strategy
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