TyroBuilders

Thank you all for your comments and encouragement, all gratefully received. I had no intention of hijacking this "Introduce Yourself" page and if someone knows how to move all the GCN posts to a more relevant place, then I'd be very happy to oblige.

First of all, thank you @ToughButterCup for your welcome - how did you know😉 Thank you all for your insights into dealing with GCNs. We are committed to going through with the build on this site, for many reasons, but wish to so in an ecologically sympathetic yet financially appropriate manner and your thoughts/experiences will be invaluable.

Hello everyone, As I approach retirement, my wife and I are beginning the journey to self building our eco-friendly, carbon minimising home. We have long held the dream of designing and building something unique and just for us utilising the advances in insulation, power generation, construction and other technologies. We have no illusion that this will be a stress-free or low-cost project but we feel we have this window to finally see if we can achieve our dream. The plot we have identified, and which we are currently at the conveyancing stage, already has Outline Planning Permission for the building of a detached house and garage (all matters reserved) but is beginning to throw up some ecological difficulties namely the likely presence of Great Crested Newts! We know this is going to be a challenging time, and project, but we are full of enthusiasm (at the moment) so standby for many requests for help and guidance. We look forward to slowly going through many of the posts on this forum and getting to know your projects, problems and solutions. Recommendations will be gratefully received. Regards, TyroBuilders