Countryside Self Build Project allowed by Welsh Government

A group of eco self builders have found a way around the restrictions on new homes in land designated as open countryside.

The Lammas eco village in SW Wales is a collective of nine pioneering self builders, who were granted permission to build their homes in the middle of a rural area.

After 3 years of battling the bureaucrats the Welsh government not only gave them the approval, but also altered their planning policy to allow similar eco-smallholdings to be built in open countryside, provided a very stringent set of requirements are satisfied. Applicants have to show that their lifestyle and management of the new building will be sustainable and eco-friendly as well as ensuring that the buildings are zero carbon and low impact.

Lammas eco village residents are free to sell on their property, but there are strict legal controls in place to ensure that whoever lives there complies with the management plan that ensures the principles of the founders will be adhered to. Unusually for a collective, they also operate something that they call the ‘hermit principle’ which allows members to choose not to be involved in community affairs.

The new policy for the whole of Wales, called ‘One Planet Development’, is a sign that finally politicians are realizing that planning policy discriminates against self builders in rural areas and that this needs to be fixed.

To find out more about this inspiring project and see photos of the highly creative buildings under construction go to http://lammas.org.uk/.

For detailed account of the story of the planning battle there is a book The Birth of an Ecovillage, by Paul Wimbush. Thanks to the RIBA Journal for the information on this project.