Starbucks millionaire may be forced to DIG UP swimming pool, home gym & bar at luxury £800k mansion in row with council
Starbucks millionaire may be forced to DIG UP swimming pool, home gym & bar at luxury £800k mansion in row with council
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A STARBUCKS millionaire could be forced to dig up his swimming pool, tennis court and bar at his £800,000 mansion in a bitter council row. Mark Hepburn has been embroiled in a bitter planning dispute after officials ordered him to demolish the luxuries at his six-bedroom pad in Durley, near Southampton.
![[Aerial view of a property and surrounding land, showing a tennis court and other structures built without permission.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/42cdc287-49fc-46a6-aa2f-06483b3df069.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The business mogul slammed the council enforcement order and claimed the previous owners had used the three-acre countryside estate in the same way. But Winchester City Council have refused the dad-of-three's application to officially convert the land to residential use.
![[David Bushby and Dawn Castell at a planning hearing.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/d78f51d7-8c2d-45bd-9f7c-c22eb05fbf9b.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
This means his home gym, TV room and children's play area are at risk of being ripped out. And, his neighbours have jumped on the bandwagon with complaints about "increased urbanisation". Mr Hepburn, who owned the Starbucks franchise 23.5 Degrees with 110 UK branches, bought the sprawling mansion in 2017.
![[Mark Hepburn at a planning hearing.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/c50ea0b2-d5b0-48ad-8229-694a79aa537b.jpg?strip=all&w=750)
At an inquiry, he said: "It is semi-rural, the house wasn't the nicest house but it had an extensive garden and with a young family that is important, we spent more time viewing the garden and the house. "[They were] using the land how we would use it.".
![[Aerial view of a property with a tennis court and home gym, subject of an enforcement notice.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0a190309-7afa-43d2-a8ce-0d1eeab0b5a4.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
When they moved in, the family bought some alpacas which they kept on their land. But because they were classed as pets, not for commercial use, he was ordered by the council to apply for a document that would show the land was in residential use not agricultural.
![[Aerial view of a tennis court, gym, and playground on a property.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/4069d671-0c5f-421f-948c-d94e70774284.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
