Selfsufficientish.com

Yet again, planners are threatening another family with eviction from a home and lifestyle that most of us can only dream of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7485547.stm

OK, so they didn't get permission but what really gets me is that the councillor states "We would end up with the countryside full of people living in caravans in fields, surely that's not what we want."

My question is...why not? Surely that is so much more preferable than fields full of new build boxes with no gardens that they laughingly call 'family homes', or nuclear power stations. One family in a small wooden framed house, in 12 acres will surely be unobtrusive within the grand scheme of things...

Hmm.. I do agree that a countryside full of people living in caravans and being self sufficient is a lovely, if somewhat dreamy idea. Unfortunately, it appears that these people moved on to a huge amount of land and claimed it for themselves without anyones permission, or at least finding out who it belonged to. I would love to do something like what they did, but can't for the life of me think of anywhere, not even a riverbank, that isn't owned by someone, either a private individual or the local council. How often does land which has been wasteland for as long as anyone can remember suddenly become available for sale? To suddenly find 12 acres of the stuff and think it doesn't belong to anyone is, in my opinion, rather naive.

A quote from the article: 'Councillor Paul Williams from Mid Devon District Council said: "If the planning inspector had agreed with them the first thing I would have done tomorrow is go out and buy a field somewhere for myself and I would have lived in the same kind of idyll."'

Note that Cllr Williams says he would "go out and buy a field", not that he would steal one.

I don't mean to sound hard-hearted, but life just isn't as simple as we would all like.

Well, I've only read the article from the link, but it gave me the distinct impression that these people actually own the land they're on. The only issue is not having planning permission for their house (and, as they didn't apply for it, I suspect they knew they wouldn't get it). The issue is not whether you think anyone should be allowed to live that lifestyle, but whether you think planning regulations are necessary or not. As far as this family are concerned, I certainly wouldn't mind living next door to them. On the other hand, I've seen some antisocial people attempting to erect two-storey garages (ho ho) right on boundaries and so blocking out the neighbour's light. I'm glad they were stopped.

Maybe the regulations go over the top and need to be reviewed. Maybe there need to be exceptions for rural as opposed to urban situations. It's a whole can of worms.

Well assuming they own the land ... and it a shed therefore a temporary structure ... I thought there was nothing the council can do about it...

Aren't planning regs there to protect us all from green belt development?
I'd be really upset if the fields surrounding us were suddenly populated with 'people living their idyl' even if their caravans and sheds are temporary!

The same law has to apply to everybody or chaos and unrest would follow. You cant have exceptions 'cause you like what they're doing or they're not doing any harm.