Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wins planning battle
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s billionaire owner, has won an 18-month planning battle over a bee factory and tennis court at his £6million holiday home.
The 71-year-old came under fire for accusations he was turning his seven acre waterside property in Hampshire’s New Forest into an ‘industrial site’ after he built two huge barns, a tennis court and a pergola without consent.
He applied for retrospective permission from the planning authority in 2022, which has now been granted – despite objections slamming the project as ‘industrialist’.
The billionaire was facing the prospect of having to demolish the sheds.
His new application is just the latest round in the chemical tycoon’s marathon struggle with planning officials after he was refused permission to build a beachside estate four times before finally winning in 2017.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (pictured celebrating a Manchester United goal at Wembley) has won an 18-month planning battle over a bee factory and tennis court at his £6million holiday home
He applied for retrospective permission from the planning authority in 2022, which has now been granted – despite objections slamming the project as ‘industrialist’
One of the garden sheds is being used for Sir Jim’s bee-keeping hobby and storage
Sir Jim also owns a luxury home in Monaco, a mega house in Lake Geneva, Switzerland, near former F1 World champion Michael Schumacher’s £5million mansion, and a 260ft super-yacht, Hampshire II.
READ MORE – Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe faces planning battle after building honey-making factory at his £6m New Forest holiday home without permission
His New Forest home was previously a mixture of marshland and agricultural field before the first building, a bungalow known as The Bung, was built in the late 1890s for Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
It was built as a beach-side summer retreat and for entertaining visitors such as King Edward VII.
Other famous residents who live nearby include Dire Straits singer Mark Knopfler and TV presenter Chris Packham.
Ranked as Britain’s second wealthiest man with an estimated worth of £29billion, Sir Jim’s passion for apiary is spelt out in planning documents submitted by his agent.
‘The applicant places very great value on home produced garden produce and as part of this he has commenced beekeeping at the site and has established a number of beehives in order to supply himself and his family with honey,’ it says.
‘Whilst beehives are distributed within the surrounding grounds the beekeeping activities also necessitate the provision of an indoor storage area for processing of honey and the storage of beekeeping equipment.
The 71-year-old came under fire for accusations he was turning his seven acre waterside property in Hampshire’s New Forest into an ‘industrial site’
Pictured is ‘The Bung’ – the cottage originally on the land before it was purchased by Sir Jim
The bungalow was built in the late 1890s for Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Previously, the land was a mixture of marshland and agricultural field
‘The applicant respectfully suggests that the outbuildings will not result in any adverse harm to the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and that the development should therefore be accepted as sustainable development.’
According to the document, one of the two unauthorised sheds houses the ‘bee factory’, tractor, soil roller compactor, forklift, wood chipper, Turf Gator, lawn mower, hedge-cutters and leaf blowers.
The other is used for storing a cherry picker, trailer, tractor flail, fertiliser spreader, three chainsaws and a leaf sucker.
‘It is acknowledged that the additional proposed storage buildings are larger and provide more storage accommodation than a standard domestic shed within a standard domestic property,’ the agent said.
‘Effectively, this is a seven-acre garden and the sheer size of the garden means that there is an inevitable requirement for significant amounts of garden equipment and a consequent and significant need for substantial amounts of storage accommodation to house this equipment and the materials used by garden staff.
The report said the application ‘seeks consent to regularise’ works that had already taken place at the site, including: a tennis court, pergola, works to walled garden, associated landscaping and external lighting.
Objecting to the plans in November 2022, Mr J Harrow of nearby Lymington made a dig at Brexiteer Sir Jim’s 2020 relocation to Monaco, a move that was said to have saved him an estimated £4 billion in tax.
Mr Harrow said: ‘Yet more development from an industrialist who seems intent on turning this stretch of the Hampshire coast into an industrial site.
‘And, as we have come to expect from billionaire elites, the belief that he can do what he wants with impunity as he can afford to pay more lawyers and fight local authorities.
‘I urge NFNPA to stand up to these wealthy XXX who seem intent on buying small houses and the by hook or by crook massively overdeveloping them.
‘And all to be used on a very occasional basis by the owner (Monaco is simply just more appealing).’
Despite the objection, the plans were approved last week by the NFNPA subject to a number of conditions.
The billionaire was facing the prospect of having to demolish the sheds
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, pictured with Sir Dave Brailsford during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on April 4
Pictured is billionaire Sir Jim’s £130million superyacht, the Hampshire II
Of the external work, a planning officer for New Forest National Park Authority stated: ‘Whilst these works perhaps appear somewhat incongruous in a New Forest setting, they are confined to a small part of the overall site, in a location where they are not visible in the wider landscape and are not uncommon features in some of the other larger properties in the vicinity.
‘The paths along the shore frontage are grassed over and although there is a helicopter landing area, this is de-marked by a spiral of small rocks set into the ground, ensuring that the extent of hard surfacing that would be visible from the Solent, which is the most public viewpoint available of the site, would be minimal.’
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Despite the two outbuilding sheds being ‘substantial’ in size, they were also granted permission because they ‘occupy a relatively minor area’ of the site.
‘The outbuildings therefore have little impact on the character and appearance of the surrounding area,’ the officer continued.
‘In terms of impact on neighbours, as set out above, the majority of the works are well contained within the site and have little impact on the surrounding area.’
Whilst ‘concerns’ about ecology were raised, the proposed levels of lighting had been amended to alleviate them.
The report continued: ‘There are a number of other measures that have been installed, including bat tubes and boxes, sparrow and swift boxes integrated into the buildings, bee bricks and hives and insect blocks.
‘These enhancement features and the amendments that have been made ensure that the impact of the works are appropriately mitigated and biodiversity enhanced in accordance with the local plan.’
In conclusion, despite the works resulting in ‘considerable alteration to the character of the site, it added: ‘The works are, however, contained within the site and do not adversely affect the character and appearance of the wider surrounding area, neighbour amenity or ecology.’
This latest application is the most recent of a catalogue of bids to make changes to his luxury pad, after he won a six year battle to build a luxury summer building on stilts in 2020.
Sir Jim, who grew up in a Manchester council house, bought BP’s chemicals division in 1992, renaming it Inspec and later Ineos.
The entrepreneur increased his wealth by more than £15billion in 2017, catapulting him to the top of the Sunday times Rich List. He was knighted in 2018.
Last December it was announced he had bought 25 per cent of shares of Manchester United, from the Glazer family, which was completed in February.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: The billionaire went from growing up in a council house to Britain’s richest man worth £10.9bn
Sir Jim, founder and boss of chemical giant Ineos, is a football obsessive who recently attracted controversy by his decision to abandon Britain for the tax haven of Monaco.
Newspaper articles suggested the billionaire was considering putting in an offer for the club, although his spokesman later said there was ‘no substance’ to the reports.
Sir Jim, who bought French club Nice for £91m in 2019, has previously been linked to both Chelsea and Manchester United, but has never gone ahead with buying a Premier League club because he considers them too expensive.
He is pictured outside the Grenadier Pub in London, where he came up with plans for a new 4×4
In 2019, the 69-year-old identified Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium as a major issue for any potential owner.
Born in 1952, Sir Jim grew up in a council house on Dunkerley Avenue in Failsworth, a small town between Manchester and Oldham, before attending Beverley Grammar School when his family moved to Yorkshire.
Sir Jim is a lifelong Manchester United fan, although he also has a season ticket at Chelsea. He sponsors professional cycling team the Ineos Grenadiers, who under their previous name, Team Sky, won the Tour de France seven times.
Sir Jim married his first wife Amanda Townson in 1985 and they had two sons, George and Samuel, before divorcing in 1995.
He has a daughter with his second wife Alicia. He is currently thought to be dating Catherine Polli.
Sir Jim married his first wife Amanda Townson in 1985 and they had two sons, George (pic) and Samuel. They both now work for Ineos
In 2020, he was slammed for following a raft of rich Britons including Topshop boss Phillip Green and his wife Tina in relocating from the UK to Monaco where he is expected to save an estimated £4billion in tax.
People who live in Monaco for at least 183 days a year do not pay any income or property taxes. In the UK, meanwhile, the highest tax rate is 45% on income above £150,000-a-year.
Sir Jim was the UK’s third highest individual taxpayer and forked out £110million in 2017-18, according to the Sunday Times tax list.
The move came soon after he was knighted by the Queen for ‘services to business and investment’.
The businessman also came under fire when it emerged he had furloughed almost 800 members of staff from his luxury hotel groups. His net worth has been reported as between £12 and £14bn.
Sir Jim does distance running and triathlons to keep himself in shape.
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