What should rural homes look like?

[rustylady]

Found this on Facebook. Apparently local planners have decreed that this home must be demolished because it is 'harmful to the rural character of the location'.

What do you think?

Lowimpact.org blog - help save Charlie's house

[Glutton4...]

It's beautiful - exactly what I would build if I had a plot of land to build it on. Fabulous!

I suspect there are many people trying to offer their support, but I can't get any sense out of the website.

[binley100]

I would love to live in a house like that .....
I think you have to go onto the planning application thing and write a letter of support..

[VirginVegGrower]

He probably took the footprint for a number of three storey townhouses, which of course would yield more in terms of a backhander. Or am I just being cynical?!

[Nicos]

That's the very thing we should be working towards building

It reminds me of a lovely house featured on Grand Designs.

I too would love to live in it.

[Sheneval]

At £15,000 a time, Council's all over Britain should be building thousands of them.

[Feral007]

I love the look of the haybale houses. And the grass roof - no not that, I have enough trouble with snakes in my ceiling.

I guess it isn't Posh enough looking for them. Quaint and rustic don't sit well with people who like things in their area to look the same.

[veggiechicken]

There's more to this than meets the eye! Yes the house is amazing but - it was built without planning permission. If you look at the Lammas initiative - which is said to be next door, you'll see a whole eco-village of similar houses that are being constructed on the understanding that the community can sustain itself. Pembrokeshire seems to attract folk who want to live off-grid - great I'm all in favour of that - but in the process they build first then, when found out, seek retrospective approval. If this were a conventional house, built in the middle of open countryside, most people would object to it on principle.

[Feral007]

I figured it was built without permission, otherwise the council would have just said 'no'in the first place. We get a lot of illegal buildings round here. There are those who don't want to do the whole safety thing, so just put up what they can. And then again the LEP (local environmental plan) has been set up to some office persons idea of what we need. ie you can't break a property up into less than 100 acre lots. But so many people want to move into the area, and most really need 20-40 acres. So too many people struggling with more land than they need, so they can have some land. Since the farmers can't sustain their farms anymore due to weather and prices, at least they can sell off the land.

They won't do retrospective permission here, if it's illegal you have to pull it down. Then apply to build it again. You can build a single garage without permission, but not a double one. The local shed companies build their sheds 2cm less than the size that requires permits to save trouble.

Altho I like some order, I'm not a big fan of councils or their regulations in some cases. Off soapbox.

[VirginVegGrower]

Then you get the builders who get permission when there is public objection. Oiling of wheels.

[Feral007]

Yes, there's a lot of that, and the 'who you know'stuff as well.
Round here they used to build out of sight of the road, but they aerial photograph the region now. They can spot an illegal outside dunny a mile away

[bearded bloke]

I would think it has more to do with him not having got planning permission .......

Charlie felt he had no choice but to build his house without the approval of the planning authorities, convinced permission for his home would be refused.

[zazen999]

I would think it has more to do with him not having got planning permission .......

He built it without because he knew they would never approve it. Because it's far too lovely.

I thought the gvt were relaxing planning laws; or is that only for some people who apply?

[Darwin.]

Fantastic looking house and one I'd love to live in if it were a bit bigger. It's good to see it was built from natural local materials and so cheeply. It's hard to have much sympathy for him though as he built it without permission. Contrary to the popular saying, rules are NOT there to be broken. Everyone has to be treated the same and if I built without permission I'd expect to be told to tear it down regardless of what it looked like.

[RedThorn]

Yes, there's a lot of that, and the 'who you know'stuff as well.
Round here they used to build out of sight of the road, but they aerial photograph the region now. They can spot an illegal outside dunny a mile away

For the unititated.... a dunny is a loo.....

Think the Aus councils use this site for viewing.... nearmap - Aerial Maps, PhotoMaps, Web Maps, Australian maps