'Hermit' loses hut legal battle
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Pretty disgusting but fairly typical of governmental bodies. The most worrying thing is this
So if you chose to live off the grid in the UK your home can now be condemned as unfit for habitation
.
When it starts, sign me up for the revolution, I'll supply my own pitchfork
.
The inspector dismissed the dwelling because it had no toilet or running water.
So if you chose to live off the grid in the UK your home can now be condemned as unfit for habitation
.When it starts, sign me up for the revolution, I'll supply my own pitchfork
.
Much more likely that he was never supposed to be living there and the council has used what it needs to in order to get him moved on. I've not seen the full text - was it his own land with permission for a dwelling? Councils don't like people trying to force their hands and react very negatively.
A mate of mine lived in a porta cabin down a lane that used to serve a quarry, only dog walkers ever went down there. He lived pretty well a gennie when he wanted ,a few goats and some chickens , He used to do the odd charcoal burn with his mate to make a few pennies as well as a bit of gardening. He had been there for years the postman even delivered his mail!!!!!!! when he was conveniently kicked off the land (Layby really) just before 20years when the land becomes yours.
He now lives in a flat and is miserable. ,
Dave
He now lives in a flat and is miserable.
,Dave
The problem with home made pitch fork is that they probably would fall foul of the H&S laws.
I think that's another nail in the coffin of individual liberties. Don't try to be a real individual unless it's the approved model.
I think I'll join you Snufkin, I'll supply my own as well and s** the H&S!
I think that's another nail in the coffin of individual liberties. Don't try to be a real individual unless it's the approved model.
I think I'll join you Snufkin, I'll supply my own as well and s** the H&S!
Found that about the man.
Mini Biography
After being chosen to play a young Laurie Lee in the 1975 television movie of _Cider With Rosie (1975) (TV)_ whilst still at school, aged 6, Stephen Grendon's acting career was short-lived. After attending Thomas Keble School in Stroud and achieving seven O' levels, he found occasional work as a gardener and took on many odd jobs around his local area. He developed a peripatetic lifestyle whilst on a trip around Europe and hitch-hiked through France, where he learned to speak the language fluently. He occasionally returned to France for some months each year to work as a fruit picker. This traveller's lifestyle eventually led to him joining a group of New Age travellers in Gloucestershire and whilst studying at Penshore College of Agriculture he lived in the grounds of the college under a tarpaulin. It was 30 years after his starring role that he made national headlines again.
In 1994 he bought a tract of land in woods near Brimpsfield Common in Gloucestershire, England, and two years later, after the breakdown of his marriage, he began to live in a small storage shed, originally intended for use as a gardener's store for nearby allotments. He lived in this 4.25 metre by 5.8 metre woodland shelter with a wooden veranda, a sleeping platform at one and and a sofa at the other, with no running water, bathroom, toilet or television, which he named "Hermit's Corner", from 1994 to 2006. It was then he made national headlines when he received a notice of eviction from the local council telling him that the building did not have planning permission as a residential building. After taking the case to the the High Court they ruled that his makeshift home for almost ten years is not officially a "dwelling house" by law, and he, therefore, would be evicted.
Having often suffered from bouts of depression and suffering with mental health problems he says "he values the simplicity of his unconventional lifestyle" in his Cotswold Valley home.
Mini Biography
After being chosen to play a young Laurie Lee in the 1975 television movie of _Cider With Rosie (1975) (TV)_ whilst still at school, aged 6, Stephen Grendon's acting career was short-lived. After attending Thomas Keble School in Stroud and achieving seven O' levels, he found occasional work as a gardener and took on many odd jobs around his local area. He developed a peripatetic lifestyle whilst on a trip around Europe and hitch-hiked through France, where he learned to speak the language fluently. He occasionally returned to France for some months each year to work as a fruit picker. This traveller's lifestyle eventually led to him joining a group of New Age travellers in Gloucestershire and whilst studying at Penshore College of Agriculture he lived in the grounds of the college under a tarpaulin. It was 30 years after his starring role that he made national headlines again.
In 1994 he bought a tract of land in woods near Brimpsfield Common in Gloucestershire, England, and two years later, after the breakdown of his marriage, he began to live in a small storage shed, originally intended for use as a gardener's store for nearby allotments. He lived in this 4.25 metre by 5.8 metre woodland shelter with a wooden veranda, a sleeping platform at one and and a sofa at the other, with no running water, bathroom, toilet or television, which he named "Hermit's Corner", from 1994 to 2006. It was then he made national headlines when he received a notice of eviction from the local council telling him that the building did not have planning permission as a residential building. After taking the case to the the High Court they ruled that his makeshift home for almost ten years is not officially a "dwelling house" by law, and he, therefore, would be evicted.
Having often suffered from bouts of depression and suffering with mental health problems he says "he values the simplicity of his unconventional lifestyle" in his Cotswold Valley home.
Sounds a bit like Big Brother beating a square peg into a round hole, just because ALL holes have to be round.
Ogri the trog
Ogri the trog
I think if you refer to the people who have managed to build their homes in woodland, you will realise just how tough it is to get permission to do so. I sympathise with these people who get evicted, but not too much. These rules protect us from the pikeys setting up camp in our woodlands and if we could all do this sort of thing none of us would have a woodland to roam in that didn't have someone permanently living there.
Your perfectly right.
Being fortunate enought to have a house in the village of my birth I have great belief in sensible affordable housing. (a nice residential caravan would please many single people, but who can afford one, or even find a site that takes under 50s?) but how to do so without creating a slum?
(as the council recently did by building a new housing association estate.)
However it is his land, I think some leeway should be allowed for that, based upon each individual case.
We should be lucky for living in a country where the government cares about such things. (or, that we live in a country where private ownership of property is possible, which certainly isnt everywhere)
Being fortunate enought to have a house in the village of my birth I have great belief in sensible affordable housing. (a nice residential caravan would please many single people, but who can afford one, or even find a site that takes under 50s?) but how to do so without creating a slum?
(as the council recently did by building a new housing association estate.)
However it is his land, I think some leeway should be allowed for that, based upon each individual case.
We should be lucky for living in a country where the government cares about such things. (or, that we live in a country where private ownership of property is possible, which certainly isnt everywhere)
The inspector dismissed the dwelling because it had no toilet or running water.
So if you chose to live off the grid in the UK your home can now be condemned as unfit for habitation
When it starts, sign me up for the revolution, I'll supply my own pitchfork
You can but its tricky - we are looking at bore hole and septic tank.
Red
... which is exactly what we have. We don't pay the "water rates" portion of the council tax, but water is by no means free. You have to pay for electricity to lift the water from the well to the header tank, filter cartridges and UV treatment. Also the upkeep of the well head to stop surface water penetrating and contaminating. And at the other end of the cycle, theres the septic tank to maintain with its run off and occasional pump-out! The biggest cost of all is the mental one of relying on regular rain to keep your supply topped up; this summer,so-far-so-good. Last summer we got home from the moot to find the well dry, and it stayed that way until mid september:Wow:
ATB
Ogri the trog
Interesting subject really. I'm guess I'm not alone here who wouldn't mind living on his own little piece of nowhere, somewhere picturesque and close to water. But topics like this show how doable it really is in the Uk.
Places further abroad like Canada, and many of the european countries that still have large amounts of "wilderness" seem like the better bet. I seem to remember one of the Grand Designs episodes where some ranger who had lived in a caravan in the middle of a forest for x years due to it being easy for his work there was able to apply for planning permission but it still seems like a lot of forms and legal advice and above all.. time and dedication that will get you what you want.
Anyway still feel sorry for him, especially how 10 yars of lifestyle have been pulled away, leaving him to rely on the local corner shop and 30-50 hours of unskilled labour a week to allow you pay tax and rent really does throw you from freedom to rat race overnight.
Places further abroad like Canada, and many of the european countries that still have large amounts of "wilderness" seem like the better bet. I seem to remember one of the Grand Designs episodes where some ranger who had lived in a caravan in the middle of a forest for x years due to it being easy for his work there was able to apply for planning permission but it still seems like a lot of forms and legal advice and above all.. time and dedication that will get you what you want.
Anyway still feel sorry for him, especially how 10 yars of lifestyle have been pulled away, leaving him to rely on the local corner shop and 30-50 hours of unskilled labour a week to allow you pay tax and rent really does throw you from freedom to rat race overnight.
The problem is that lots and lots of people want to live in the countryside. If all you had to do was buy some land and then you were free to build whatever you wanted with it we would have chaos. Look at spain, or the Irish Republic where unconstrained development runs rampant. Lots of poorly designed 'formulaic' houses each in a large plot sprawling over the countryside.
The planning controls we have in this country are intended to protect that which we all value. Just because I might build a discrete sustainable log cabin doesn't mean the guy in the other half of the wood wouldn't build some hideous "South Fork" style monstrosity. Because we have so little housing land, planning controls aim to ensure that what is built is of a standard and quality that will be of use to future occupants, not just the first.
We have so little woodland do we really support the idea that anyone can buy a woodland and then build in it? Wouldn't the consequence be that all our small woodlands were the private gardens of the wealthy even more so than they already are?
Scoops
The planning controls we have in this country are intended to protect that which we all value. Just because I might build a discrete sustainable log cabin doesn't mean the guy in the other half of the wood wouldn't build some hideous "South Fork" style monstrosity. Because we have so little housing land, planning controls aim to ensure that what is built is of a standard and quality that will be of use to future occupants, not just the first.
We have so little woodland do we really support the idea that anyone can buy a woodland and then build in it? Wouldn't the consequence be that all our small woodlands were the private gardens of the wealthy even more so than they already are?
Scoops
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