Grid, the house passed through the hands of a series of would-be developers with various plans, all of which came to nothing. An application for planning permission to develop the building for use as a training centre was refused in September 2004, on the grounds that the development would be unsustainable and would affect local use of the area due to parking requirements. During this period it was however sometimes used for social functions. In 2011 the house was placed on the market again, and this time was bought by Lara Grylls, the sister of Bear Grylls, and her husband James Fawcett, great-grandson of its previous owner in the 1920s. The couple demolished the extension that had been added by the CEGB to the back of the building (dubbed by them "the tumour"), which had included office buildings, control centres, bunkers and a tower, amounting to four times the size of the original house in all. The demolition process turned out to be self-financing, due to the value of the electrical scrap that was recovered, and even generated a small surplus, which paid for the reinstatement of period windows and chimneys. Pollution levels During 2000, Becca Hall was used to measure background levels of air pollution. The site's rural nature places it due west from the A1 and over due east from the edge of the Leeds urban boundary, and so was ideal for that purpose. The only pollutant recorded was ground-level ozone, compared to levels of SO2, NO2, and PM10s at a site next to the A1. References External links Local Government site declaring planning permission refused for development of the site Appeal against refusal for planning permission Genealogy for William Markham, former occupant of Becca Hall Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Country houses in West Yorkshire