Banking tycoon Sir Victor Blank’s swimming pool battle set for Court of Appeal
Former Lloyds Banking Group chairman Sir Victor Blank. Picture: PA/John Stillwell - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima
Banking tycoon Sir Victor Blank is set to take Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust to the Court of Appeal in an ongoing legal battle linked to plans for an underground swimming pool near his home.
Sir Victor, 70, sought a High Court injunction to stop the trust from approving plans for a basement extension to a six-bedroom mansion near his Suburb home.
But having lost the case in April, the former Lloyds Banking Group chairman was ordered to pay the trust’s £65,000 legal bill.
He has now had his bid to appeal against the High Court decision approved by the Court of Appeal.
It follows a new application to Barnet Council from Suburb resident Scott Franklin to build a basement extension to his home. His original underground swimming pool plan sparked the legal fight.
Sir Victor and a group of neighbours, including top judge Lord Justice Leveson and TV presenter Richard Madeley, fear that removing earth to dig a basement could result in damage to neighbouring homes.
