The millionaire founder of the White Stuff clothing brand has won a long running planning battle to keep a tennis court and skate park he built at his luxury waterside home without permission.
Sean Thomas was ordered by South Hams District Council to tear down the sports facilities alongside a double garage after being refused planning consent.
However, he appealed to the Government planning watchdog who quashed the local council’s decision.
The row started in 2019 after the development was built on farmland behind his house at Gerston Point, an affluent area and beauty spot in Devon.
Neighbours and conservationists complained the plans would impact negatively on the rural coastal location which sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
White Stuff founder Sean Thomas has been allowed to keep a two-storey double garage, a skate park and a tennis court (outlined in red) at his beauty spot mansion
Mr Thomas’s house is in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which covers 337 square kilometres of south west England
White Stuff founder Sean Thomas had been ordered to tear down a two-storey double garage, a skate park and a tennis court (outlined in red) at his beauty spot mansion in Devon
The view of the tennis court looking towards the double garage with solar panelling
The work was completed in 2016 and Mr Thomas applied for retrospective planning permission in 2019.
The council rejected the first application and said that the land must be restored to its former condition as an agricultural field.
Mr Thomas then lodged a new application which included a ‘substantial new planting of over 1,000 native trees’ as well as a bat roost, bird boxes and the planting of wildflowers along the estuary.
Sean Thomas, the founder of White Stuff
But council planners again rejected the application and the issue was handed over to the council’s enforcement team to bring the land back to its former use.
He later submitted a lawful certificate to the council and argued the development should remain, as no enforcement action had been taken in four years by South Hams District Council.
The council said that the law states that the enforcement action still stands and would ‘only become immune from enforcement action’ after 10 years.
Later, Mr Thomas lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate.
In documents seen by , planning inspector Andy Harwood said the development could remain as long as solar panels put on the double garage were removed.
He said: ‘With these conditions, the development would not have a harmful effect upon the character and appearance of the countryside and would conserve the landscape and scenic beauty of AONB.
The double garage as viewed on the approach to the coastal home at Gerston Point
The Planning Inspectorate ordered the removal of the solar panels from the garage. Pictured: The double garage
Sean Thomas founded the White Stuff fashion brand in 1986 with George Treves while the pair were working in the French ski resort of Méribel. Today, White Stuff has 151 stores across the UK
‘Furthermore, this would respect the scenic quality of the area, maintaining the sense of place and would not have a detrimental effect on the undeveloped character or tranquility of the coast.’
The inspector also ordered Mr Thomas to provide details to South Hams District Council of several new hedgerows which were to be planted.
Further applications providing details of the landscaping have since been submitted and approved by the council.
The house was itself built after a controversial planning application in 2011, on the site of a bungalow formerly owned by the environmentalist Tony Soper, co-founder of the BBC’s famous Natural History Unit.
That development was finally approved in 2012 after some scaling back of the original plans.
Mr Thomas later acquired an adjoining strip of agricultural land to build the tennis court, skate park and garage, which was finished in 2016.
White Stuff, which was started by Mr Thomas and a friend George Treves in the French Alps in 1985 selling T-shirts and sweatshirts to skiers, has more than 130 retail outlets in the UK and abroad.
Earlier this year, the founders were said to have enlisted the expertise of Rothschild, an investment bank, to navigate an offer following an unexpected takeover approach.
Sky News analysts predicted that White Stuff could potentially fetch a figure in the vicinity of £50m ($63m).
White Stuff declined to comment on the news. Mr Thomas been approached for comment.