Low impact village plans to be refused
(ref: ecovillage, eco-hamlet near Beccles)
A planning application to build a ‘low impact’ village on a greenfield site in Suffolk looks likely to be thrown out because of the location. Waveney District Council’s planning officers have recommended that the plans be refused by the development control committee.
Norwich-based Common Ground Co-Operative applied for permission to use land in Ilketshall St Andrew, near Beccles, for an eco hamlet, to include 10 straw bale homes with a communal building and a solar-powered laundry and toilet block. The rest of the 20 acre site would be used for growing crops, keeping goats and chickens and building a carpentry workshop.
The planning officer’s report for the meeting said that the application has many positive aspects, including having a low environmental impact and promoting rural crafts and sustainable farming methods.
But despite recognising the project’s green credentials, they said that building on a designated greenfield site is against local policy. It said: “The applicant’s proposals are thoughtfully put together and to carry them out would be a long and brave process.
The officer’s first instincts were to treat them as a demonstration of how it is possible to carry out a low impact, sustainable development, so that others could learn from it and repeat it elsewhere.
“However, the remote location is a crucial problem and policy simply does not permit dwellings in the countryside. Even if they met with existing local need, the location is not sustainable. In some ways with reluctance, this application must be recommended for refusal.”
It continued: “The irony of the contrast between the applicants’ declared intentions and the lifestyles of most existing residents in rural areas, in terms of their low or high impact and sustainability, should not go unmentioned.”
Richard Jackson, a member of the Common Ground Co-Operative, said: “We welcome the planning officer’s many positive comments regarding our project. We recognise they have raised valid concerns regarding our place within the current planning policy framework but we have robust strategies in place to address these concerns.
“We can demonstrate that we have a viable and sustainable development project with significant outcomes and low risk for a sustainable Waveney valley. Ultimately we believe that finding solutions for rural sustainability is as important as those for urban sustainability.”
