Alternative lifestyle project

[Waterworks]

I have many years experience in living off grid in different kinds of dwellings , I really enjoy extreme simple life and remote rural places, what i'd like to do is build an iron age roundhouse in a wood and try out living there full time . As far as I can see there is no way to do this legally, which I find strange as I my aim is to be totally off-grid with no effect on anyone else, I can only see that it would be a benefit to any council planner, not a problem. 

 

In any case, I feel it's a daft situation that I will have to do this illegally when I'm a responsible law-abiding person that just wants to enjoy a harmless alternative lifestyle. 

[ProDave]

If this was possible then everyone would be living in a shed or caravan in the woods. 

 

The nearest I can find is someone near here bought a building plot with PP for a house and for the last 5 years has been living there in a Yurt, with no sign of actually building a house.  It will be interesting to see if the planners take any action or just let him carry on in his yurt.

[Temp]

Some people have managed to get PP to live onsite where the nature of their business requires it. I remember one case involved a charcoal burner 

 

However councils are wise to this as a ploy. They may require evidence in the form of a multi year business plan that shows the business is viable and produces sufficient income.

 

They have been known to grant temporary PP to see if the plan is met. Fail and you loose PP.

 

A lot of planning on your part would be required before you even approach the planners. Their definition of a sustainable development isn't what you might think. They want to know if existing public services can be accessed so they don have to provide new. They may want to know there are spaces at the nearest school even if you don't have kids. That's because you could sell your "house" to someone's that does. 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Temp

[Cpd]

I just checked back on your other threads quickly and this seems to be an ongoing theme  for you but put in different ways to try and find an answer that works for you !  It must be very frustrating that this is not easily achievable. I would warn against doing something dodgy in a wood where ANYONE might poke there nose into your business as I have seen this done and a whole house had to be removed (after many years of habitation) at the occupiers cost and all in all a sole shattering experience.....  If it was me I would buy (for cash) a nice big remote piece of land in remote Scotland with a rundown / derelict house on it that was still classed as habitable only because nobody from officialdom had looked at it in a very long time and start from there. 

[ProDave]

To be honest that sort of lifestyle could only be achieved by living on a narrowboat and continuous cruising.  I very much like that idea in fact it is near the top of our retirement bucket list.

[SteamyTea]

 

[Waterworks]

On 09/12/2020 at 15:01, ProDave said:

To be honest that sort of lifestyle could only be achieved by living on a narrowboat and continuous cruising.  I very much like that idea in fact it is near the top of our retirement bucket list.

I already do and it's far from the freedom and peace and quiet you would imagine it to be. 

 

[Ferdinand]

If you are (very) well-heeled there is always RMS The World, which is still sailing around as a residential cruise ship, though not really low impact and a bit more expensive than a narrowboat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_The_World

 

Has someone mentioned the special scheme in Wales - the One Planet Development Scheme? 

 

I think one key is to look to places with regulatory systems formed by their experience of low population density, and to keep a route back in as you get older.

 

I wonder if an EU Citizenship is useful at this point, to be able to continue to target more remote EU Countries.

[Jilly]

Take a look at the vets at Beeviewfarm.com on the OPD in Wales. They are self sufficient on a few acres and have made a dwelling by recycling all kinds of things and proving that they are low carbon, according to the regulations. They are near Lamas. 

 

I have interior-designer-meets-cabin-in-the-woods aspirations but it's really restricting to be bound by all your principles.

 

Surely the great thing about a canal boat must be that if you don't like the neighbours, you can move on? 

[SteamyTea]

32 minutes ago, Jilly said:

Surely the great thing about a canal boat must be that if you don't like the neighbours, you can move on

So can the neighbours

 

[ToughButterCup]

51 minutes ago, Jilly said:

...

Surely the great thing about a canal boat must be that if you don't like the neighbours, you can move on? 

 

But the ducks move with you: and at 5am they nibble the greenery along the waterline. Soooooooo annoying when your ear is 100mm away.

[Gone West]

On 09/12/2020 at 15:01, ProDave said:

To be honest that sort of lifestyle could only be achieved by living on a narrowboat and continuous cruising.  I very much like that idea in fact it is near the top of our retirement bucket list.

Interesting programme on iPlayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bks0

[Thedreamer]

On 09/12/2020 at 13:22, Waterworks said:

I have many years experience in living off grid in different kinds of dwellings , I really enjoy extreme simple life and remote rural places, what i'd like to do is build an iron age roundhouse in a wood and try out living there full time . As far as I can see there is no way to do this legally, which I find strange as I my aim is to be totally off-grid with no effect on anyone else, I can only see that it would be a benefit to any council planner, not a problem. 

 

In any case, I feel it's a daft situation that I will have to do this illegally when I'm a responsible law-abiding person that just wants to enjoy a harmless alternative lifestyle. 

 

I often wonder what life would have been like in the iron age. A simpler way of life, connected to nature.

 

I would go for it, buy a little area of woodland somewhere really remote.

 

Why can't people live like our ancestors, if they want? 

 

Ideally if I we able to, we would like recreate the iron age broch on the croft that would be amazing.

 

 

Sometimes I just sit here and try be connected to the previous occupiers.

 

[Onoff]

8 hours ago, Jilly said:

They are near Lamas. 

 

Are you sure they're not alpacas?

[Jilly]

8 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

 

I often wonder what life would have been like in the iron age. A simpler way of life, connected to nature.

 

I would go for it, buy a little area of woodland somewhere really remote.

 

Why can't people live like our ancestors, if they want? 

 

Ideally if I we able to, we would like recreate the iron age broch on the croft that would be amazing.

 

 

Sometimes I just sit here and try be connected to the previous occupiers.

 

I love ancient byways for that reason. The thought that people have been treading these paths for perhaps millennia, is truly humbling. Come to think of it, building your own shelter is a pretty basic path that is uniting us. The forum is egalitarian, our personal circumstances are hidden, our abilities are diverse,  but we are out here (or is it there?), lending a metaphorical hand in our abstract community...

[Gone West]

9 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

Why can't people live like our ancestors, if they want? 

I've just read a book about a chap who lived without money or technology. Very interesting. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786077272

 

[joe90]

11 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

I've just read a book about a chap who lived without money or technology. Very interesting. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786077272

 

Just ordered that myself ?

[PeterW]

9 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

Why can't people live like our ancestors, if they want? 

 

Sadly most councils see that as loss of income and revenue for services, so they tend to discourage ... 

 

I still remember the early days of CAT at Machynlleth and how they had some very radical ideas on off grid which I think the closest to mainstream that has become is either Lammas or Ben Law and his house in the woods which still lists as my all time favourite Grand Design, even with its extensions ..!

[pdf27]

9 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

Why can't people live like our ancestors, if they want? 

The Bronze-Age population of the UK was at most 100,000 - and even that had a major impact on the environment. A handful of people living like that is OK, but too many of them would cause big problems for the rest of us.

[joe90]

11 minutes ago, PeterW said:

or Ben Law and his house in the woods which still lists as my all time favourite Grand Design, even with its extensions ..!

+1 ?, and so nice to see him settle down with a family.

[SteamyTea]

27 minutes ago, pdf27 said:

The Bronze-Age population of the UK was at most 100,000 - and even that had a major impact on the environment. A handful of people living like that is OK, but too many of them would cause big problems for the rest of us.

Yes.  We know what happens when too many people live without proper infrastructure.  We called it The Great Stink.

 

Many of the environmental problems that we suffer today are because places have expanded without regard to infrastructure.

It would be an interesting exercise to work out exactly what a small town would need to be 'off grid', a lot of land for energy and food, an underground aquifer for drinking water, then treatment plant, a river for waste water, and a treatment plant, some way to distribute goods and services, and building materials, glass may be difficult as it would need an industrial processes.

As a starting point it may be worth finding out how all the components of a house are made, and where they come from.  Not many will be local.

[ProDave]

18 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

So can the neighbours

 

I suspect the vast majority of those are "slum boats" and never move and have no intention of ever moving.  that is not the lifestyle I would want on the cut.

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

I suspect the vast majority of those are "slum boats" and never move and have no intention of ever moving.  that is not the lifestyle I would want on the cut.

It is the Regent's Canal, so probably not.  But other places have slums.

My sister runs a canal boat business, she hates all the other users, and the people that manage her arm of the waterway, and the local marina, and walkers.

I suspect she is the nightmare one.

[Thedreamer]

1 hour ago, Jilly said:

I love ancient byways for that reason. The thought that people have been treading these paths for perhaps millennia, is truly humbling

 

Yes, I like walking ancient routes. I like old boundaries too, stone walls etc

 

59 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

I've just read a book about a chap who lived without money or technology. Very interesting. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786077272

 

 

Look interesting, perhaps it might be a Christmas present.

 

4 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Yes.  We know what happens when too many people live without proper infrastructure.  We called it The Great Stink.

 

Many of the environmental problems that we suffer today are because places have expanded without regard to infrastructure.

It would be an interesting exercise to work out exactly what a small town would need to be 'off grid', a lot of land for energy and food, an underground aquifer for drinking water, then treatment plant, a river for waste water, and a treatment plant, some way to distribute goods and services, and building materials, glass may be difficult as it would need an industrial processes.

As a starting point it may be worth finding out how all the components of a house are made, and where they come from.  Not many will be local.

 

I think most people who want to live this way, wouldn't want to be with to many people. They want to have their own space. I think there is a big difference being off grid and wanting to live fairly remotely. The core reason for doing it will be different.

 

For me it's like when people go camping. When I mean camping, this is not a camp site full of people, but camping in the middle of nowhere, so I can be left with my own thoughts.

[Thedreamer]

55 minutes ago, pdf27 said:

The Bronze-Age population of the UK was at most 100,000 - and even that had a major impact on the environment. A handful of people living like that is OK, but too many of them would cause big problems for the rest of us.

 

I agree with this. Nearly all of our native woodlands disappeared.