Meat mogul millionaire faces heated opposition over plans to demolish 1950s bungalow in exclusive Sandbanks peninsula and build £15m 'superhome' in its place
Hilton Foods Group co-founder, Philip Heffer, shelled out £3.6million for a 1950s style property on the exclusive part of Dorset known as 'millionaire's playground'.
More recently, he was given the green light to demolish the run-down Dorset bungalow and replace it with a multi-million super home, which would boast five balconies.
Bungalows were traditionally known as a single storey home, but in recent years it has become increasingly common to add a second floor.
By the end of construction, the four storey beachfront mansion would be worth an estimated £15million, but his plans have struck a sour note among locals.
Among those who have been left feeling off-key about the proposal is piano teacher and neighbour Vivien Shiplee as she believed the balconies will peer into her holiday home.
The 68-year-old is concerned the 'superhome' will not only look straight down into her front and back garden, but that the flat-roofed property will cast her home in a shadow.
But she isn't the only one to voice her worries, as the Sandbanks Neighbourhood Forum also believe Mr Heffer's home poses a threat to locals privacy as it 'will significantly increase the overlooking to the adjacent houses' rear gardens'.
However many neighbours are against his most recent proposals for a £15million 'superhome' (Pictured: Mr Heffer's white bungalow in the centre)
The forum also questioned the meat mogul's intentions with the flat roof in their statement, saying: 'It is worth mentioning that there is no roof plan to control what is placed upon the roof, its use and what may protrude upon the skyline.'
Other mansions on Banks Road in the exclusive stretch of Dorset prime real estate have luxury observation rooms and sun terraces to take in the stunning views.
The property is on the 'panhandle' of Sandbanks and will look out on Poole Harbour on one side and the sea on the other.
The narrow strip of land has also been identified as a major flood risk in years to come, with experts predicting rising sea levels.
Up until now planning officials at Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council have backed Mr Heffer's plans, despite complaints about privacy and over development. They say such concerns come with the territory of living on Sandbanks.
Planning officer Claire Moir said the size and design of the new mansion are no different to others that have been built in recent years.
She added the 'inevitable overlooking' from balconies was now commonplace due to the 'pattern of development' and was something Sandbanks residents had to accept.
Although Mr Heffer was granted planning permission and building work now is underway, he has gone back to the council seeking to amend the scheme and make the whole building slightly taller.
By the end of construction it is estimated the property would be worth around £15million
Sandbanks Neighbourhood Forum also believe Mr Heffer's home poses a threat to local's privacy as it 'will significantly increase the overlooking to the adjacent houses' rear gardens'.
MailOnline has approached Mr Heffer for comment.
Mr Heffer comes from a dynasty of meat barons, with his father Robin having founded wholesalers Romford Wholesale Meats.
But he has since stepped back from his role as chief executive of the pre-packed high quality meat supplier after revenues rose to £3.85billion last year.
Last year, his meat firm were planning to expand further after profits jumped by nearly two thirds.
The food packaging company, which supplies major supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, and Waitrose, reported bumper pre-tax profits growth of 64.2 percent to £ 48.6 million in 2023.
Its UK seafood arm returned to operating profitability thanks to price hikes and new business contracts after being heavily impacted the year before.
However he is not the only millionaire in the area with planning application woes, as another rich hopeful was deal a devastating blow last May.
Tom Glanfield, 46, bought the rundown house in an exclusive area of Dorset known as 'Millionaire's Row' in March 2023.
He had dreams of knocking the cottage down and building a state-of-the-art eco-home, but had been hit with resistance ever since.
And now, despite locals writing in 28 letters of support for the plans, councillors are being recommended to turn down the 46-year-old's plans on 'conservation grounds'.
It comes after Tom Glanfield, 46, bought the rundown house in an exclusive area of Dorset known as 'Millionaire's Row' in March 2023
But since then he has been involved in a two-year fight to demolish the cottage and replace with an eco-home
Planning officer Babatunde Aregbesola is set to tell members at Bournemouth and Poole Council on Thursday: 'The proposal by reason of the demolition of the existing cottage would result in the total loss of the non-designated heritage asset causing significant harm to the Sandbanks Conservation Area.
'Consequently, losing a positive building within the Sandbanks CA to a single dwelling of an unsympathetic design is not considered a heritage or public benefit which could outweigh the harm to the significance of the Conservation Area.'
The matter was referred to the committee due to the high amount of public support.
Elsewhere on 'Millionaire's Row', residents on the exclusive Sandbanks resort emerged victorious after plans for a four-story 'monstrosity' AirBnB was rejected.
Fears were raised that it would be snapped up by AirBnB hosts cashing in on demand for rowdy stag and hen parties in the upmarket resort.
It came with plans to double the size of a restaurant on site which councillors were warned would transform the pretty street into a 'commercialised strip mall'.
The committee voted unanimously to refuse the plans over concerns about the size, bulk and mass of the proposed four-story building, fears of flood risks and concerns about the restaurant element of the plans.
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Daily Mail
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Times
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If Kate and William upsize, will an old pile with a tennis court be a curse?
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Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Taxpayer appears to fund footballers' salaries for ‘R&D'
Taxpayers appear to have funded player salaries at a top-flight football club on the grounds they were working on cutting-edge research. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) demanded repayment from the Scottish Premier League team Dundee United last year after it claimed £1.27 million under the research and development tax credit scheme. The scheme, which is meant to support innovations for the public good in science and technology, has been subject to a high degree of fraud and error thanks to lax checks by the tax authority. Under HMRC's rules a company can apply for the public money only if it has attempted a genuine advance in science or technology to benefit the overall field, not just its own business. A report was prepared by Dundee United's tax consultant ZLX before the club's claim, which stated that its players spent 24 per cent of their time directly conducting research and development activities, across nutrition and data collection projects. This meant, the report claimed, this portion of their salaries could be partially recouped from the taxpayer as a research and development (R&D) tax credit under the scheme. The report also stated that 80 per cent of the club chef's time was spent on nutrition science research, which could also be used to make a tax credit claim. Eligible research under the scheme must deal with an issue of genuine scientific uncertainty, which an expert in the field would not easily be able to resolve. • HMRC overhaul: £8bn tax credit scheme faces reform For one of Dundee's projects, the document claimed that the eligible uncertainty was that 'league involvement, challenge in European competition, playing style and management are all likely to change'. Simon Brundish, a conditioning coach at Strength:Lab who has worked with Premier League football clubs as well as with the English and Belgian national teams, reviewed the details of the research projects set out in the document. 'There is nothing groundbreaking going on here,' he said. 'A radar profile for each player and each position using arbitrary thresholds created by coaches' 'expertise' is simply standard practice in professional team sport.' He said that if the club had been paying an external consultant large sums for these kinds of services on the grounds that it was revolutionary research, it was effectively 'buying snake oil'. The tax expert Dan Neidle said: 'Football players are not scientific researchers.' He added that if Dundee United had claimed a quarter of the players' salaries as R&D expenditure, it was a 'scandal'. 'It is no surprise HMRC are investigating,' he said. Stephen McCallion, the owner of ZLX, based in Glasgow, said that the claim briefing had not been submitted to HMRC and that ZLX had never been interviewed by HMRC in relation to the Dundee claim. When asked if he disputed that the Dundee claim included a claim for player salaries, he declined to comment, citing client confidentiality. • Specialist agents under scrutiny in crackdown on tax credit fraud There has been controversy around whether it is within the spirit of the scheme for football clubs to make large claims. In February The Times revealed that Premiership teams including Chelsea, Fulham and Nottingham Forest had made claims. After the story, disclosures under freedom of information by HMRC revealed that at least 33 professional football clubs were under investigation into whether £17 million had been wrongly claimed. Chelsea was paid more than £3 million in R&D tax relief and payments by HMRC between 2020 and last year, according to its accounts. Nottingham Forest claimed a tax credit of £607,000 in the 2021-22 financial year, while Fulham claimed £758,000 in credits between 2019 and 2024. After the reporting, it emerged that Brentford had also made a claim, worth more than £3 million. Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brentford were asked if player salaries had been included in any way in their claims under the scheme. Brentford declined to comment. The other clubs were approached for comment. HMRC has not disclosed the identity of which 33 clubs were under investigation. Dundee separately declared HMRC's repayment demand in its most recent accounts. Concerns have also been raised about the role of tax advisers encouraging companies to make claims that skirt the border of eligibility, with at least one adviser promoting the scheme as 'free money from HMRC'. ZLX described itself on its website as having the 'know-how' to navigate R&D tax credits. It previously stated on its website that it could assist clubs in making claims under the scheme for research into 'stadiums-spectator interaction', 'media and multimedia' and 'Covid compliance measures'. The page including this information has been taken down from its website. The company was criticised in a recent Scottish court case for what the sheriff found was a proposal to make an R&D claim on behalf of a fruit and vegetable company for installing a fridge. HMRC has faced repeated criticisms for its handling of the R&D scheme as its cost ballooned from £1.1 billion in 2010 to £7.5 billion in 2023. Officials have been accused of failing properly to check claims being made, leading to a high rate of fraud and error, with resulting losses totalling £4.1 billion since 2020. Freedom of information litigation last year forced HMRC to reveal it had failed to take sustained action to crack down on misuse of the scheme for five years, despite being warned by officials as early as 2017 that the scheme was being extensively defrauded. McCallion has previously said that the sheriff repeated comments made by the defendant — which had not been taken seriously by the ZLX legal team — that it was 'not impossible for a football club to claim R&D tax credits'. He also said that 'those who have started this witch hunt on football clubs have little or no technical experience but instead are using this platform to further their own endeavours'. Dundee United was approached for comment. The club's accounts state that it is appealing against HMRC's repayment demand.
