ONE of Dorset's notable homes, Moigne Combe House, is expected to be heated by a biomass boiler in future – using trees from the estate.

Dorset Council has given permission for the unit, in a 15 x 5m building, within a clearing 30 metres away from the main house. The steel shell will have to be painted black as part of the planning consent.

The property is the former home of the late Major General Mark Bond.

The boiler, and a building to house it, will be sited just off the entrance to the house from Mount Skippet, Crossways. It will replace an oil fuelled heating boiler in the basement of the house, according to applicant Mr Michael Holmes.

The house itself was completed in 1900 as a home for the Bond family when they were displaced in 1943 from Tyneham House, their home for over 250 years. They moved out, along with other Tyneham residents, to make way for the expansion of Lulworth tank ranges in preparation for the D-Day landings.

The Bond family moved permanently to Moigne Combe after they were informed Tyneham would not be returned to them.

A covering letter with the planning application says that the late Major General Mark Bond was the last member of the Bond family to live at Moigne Combe.

The new boiler should operate at 93% efficiency with minimal ash waste which will be disposed of onsite.

The ten-bedroom Moigne Combe, described as being in need of modernisation, was on the market just over a year ago with an asking price of £3.5 million.