hello thomas,many thanks for publisizing our cause via this very interesting site (keep up the good work admin).
as thomas says,we live in a yurt in le morbihan brittany in roughly 6 acres of coniforous forest which we purchased last april.
we have lived there tranquilly since signing up to a letter arriving on christmas eve(merry xmas!!!!).
the letter was a demand from the local mayor asking us to remove our yurt from this land by the 10.01.09, if not he shall pass the procedure of eviction over to the courts.
I have lived in the yurt since 2000 and 7 of these years in france(not 5 thomas,but at our age a bit of senility is tollerated).
the first 6 years here i have peacefully rented land on which to install the yurt,and i use the word install there with good reason ,as within legal litigation the yurt is classified as an installation and not as a construction.
I can not speak for the legalalities of siting a yurt in the uk as i have spent the best part of the last decade off the island,spending a little time in the south pacific islands then moving out to the european mainland shortly after my return to the northern hemisphere.
I may however speak with confidence about the legalities of yurt life here in france,as i have put time into studying the laws,bylaws and litigation concerning our chosen way of life.
we have the right to live in a yurt without planning permission if the yurt is less than 35m2 which is a diametre of 6.6 metres,and also if the yurt does not have any foundations ie:cement or concrete.
Our current problem has stemmed from someone complaining to the mayor that they do not find it acceptable that we have the right to live in our yurt in the forest when they were recently turned away with a planning application for the erection of a large garden shed.(a real touch of humanity dont you think?).on top of this we would appear to have bought land in a commune where the mayor is anti environmental progress and is without a doubt(although he denies this) anti alternative dwellings or eco-construction.
we have been in touch with many associations,eco-magazines,green parties and the likes and have brought the situation streaming into the public domain to try and highlight the oppression shown towards people like us,who are trying to make a much needed difference to our injured planet.
the support that we have received not only locally but nationally has been somewhat overwhelming.in fact if we were to lose this legal battle(not an option within the laws of positivity) we would walk away with an even stronger belief than before in humanity.
The mayor is trying to remove us by saying we are in infraction of the "code d'urbanisme" which is a sort of countryside code set up to regulate the beautiful french counrtyside.This said code is a good idea in some senses,but it only protects the countyside from a "bureaucratique" viewpoint and as i am sure ,the majority of you who use this forum understand that the protection of our woodlands needs a hands-on approach also.
when we bought this terrain,it was in a dire state of health due to the flourishing growth of vines and ivy which were destroying many of the mature oaks,beech and chestnuts.we have spend months of hard work with careful eco-management to create an even richer bio-diversity by opening up different sorts of habitat on the land which in turn has greatly increased the number of species,even in such a short space of time.
The environment is of paramount importance to us and it is our chosen quest to serve and protect(to coin an euphemism) this very beautiful but fragile planet of ours.
This we are doing by trying to buy more and more woodland every year to stop it falling into the wrong hands.if we achieve this we should be able to reduce the amount of tree's being needlessly cut down for firewood,especially when you see the amount of wood disapearing into landfills etc. recycling does not stop with just bottles and cans,but should be carried out across the board to help reduce consumerism.also all our land will be strictly no hunting and therefore be supplying a safe haven for our four legged and our winged friends when the hunt is at its full pace over the winter months.
we have been hitting out the local papers and doing petitions for public support and shall quite likely be appearing on national tv in the near future.
we are trying to apply sufficient pressure on local goverment to make them realise that this way of life should be supported and not dis-couraged,and that we have a strong public backing in our moral standing.with enough pressure the local mayor may stop the procedure before it carries on.
we have found information on a govermental document that states that "monsieur le maire has the power to stop any case at any time of its proceedings in the interests of the local commune.
we would be very pleased if you would support us on our environmental quest by signing our petition and by sharing the address with your contacts.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/yourte56
also you can contact us on
gerdweller@hotmail.co.uk
many thanks for taking time out of your busy scheduels for reading this and for caring.
love and light
jamie(fly) and rachel
ps. merci beaucoup thomas and please give our love to the family.
the future is bright,the future is green.
pps. please forgive any mistakes in this message,as i do not get to speak in english often and my vocabulary and grammer are disapearing fast.
......