The area around Sean Thomas’ house is classed as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
West Alvington Parish Council/AP
The millionaire founder of British fashion retailer White Stuff might have to tear down a building, private skateboard park and tennis court he built without permission in a protected natural area.
Sean Thomas, who co-founded the clothing company with fellow keen skier and millionaire George Treves in 1985, built a two-storey double garage and the two sports facilities behind his mansion in South Hams, Devon.
But the Gerston Point area is classed as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Thomas had not applied for planning permission to build the facilities.
South Hams District Council ordered to demolish the structures after having been alerted by local residents.
Thomas and his wife have applied for a retrospective planning application for the change of use to the land. South Hams District Council rejected the application, saying that the development “represents an unwelcome and incongruous intrusion into an undeveloped countryside location”.
Now the local enforcement team has notified Thomas to remove the buildings and return the land to its former condition.
The house, built in 2011, sits alongside the Salcombe-Kingsbridge Estuary.
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Thomas said he is considering appealing against the local authority decision and he has eight weeks to appeal against the decision.
“I’ve been advised to appeal and am hopeful that if I do there may be a successful outcome, but it would be wrong to discuss it in detail until it is complete,” Thomas said.
“I and my family very much appreciate the special nature of Gerston Point and feel privileged to have lived there for the past seven years or more.”
Thomas’ house was built in 2011 on the site of a bungalow previously owned by British naturalist Tony Soper, co-founder of the BBC’s Natural History Unit program.
It sits alongside the Salcombe-Kingsbridge Estuary, designated Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1987.
“We welcome the decision that South Hams District Council has made to enforce this retrospective application, nobody is above the law, planning permission is in place for a reason,” said Cathy Koo, vice chair of the South Hams Society.