Affinity Woodland Workers Co-operative Ltd
Steward Community Woodland, Moretonhampstead, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 8SD
Tel: 01647 440233 ~ Fax: 07050 674 467 ~ http://www.stewardwood.org ~

14^th August 2000

James Aven
Development Control
Dartmoor National Park Authority
Parke
Bovey Tracey
Devon TQ13 9JQ

Dear Mr Aven

I am writing to set out the matters discussed at our meeting last Friday. We believe that it is in the best interests of ourselves, the Dartmoor National Park Authority (‘DNPA’), local people, and the environment for any planning permission granted to be subject to conditions and guarantees to ensure that only environmentally benign, low impact development can take place on the land. We are as concerned as yourselves that granting a change in the land use classification might allow inappropriate high impact development in through the ‘back door’ at some point in the future. Conditions attached to the planning permission would avoid this happening and would guarantee for the DNPA and the public that the project would continue in its aims of sustainable land use and being of benefit to the local community and economy.

We would like to stress the reasons why we have applied for a change of use to allow residential occupation at Steward Wood. There is a proven need for sustainable land use and development (see Rio Declaration and Agenda 21). Permaculture and forest gardening are examples of sustainable land use. They are low input and high output in terms of energy and resources but are highly intensive in terms of people power. On-site workers are essential and much of the advantage of this type of agriculture is only obtained because the produce is picked fresh and consumed quickly in the locality without the need to transport it long distances, store it for long periods or process it for market. Any polytunnels and/or greenhouses will require frequent attention from residential workers as will charcoal burning kilns, sap taps etc. The educational and recreational aspects of the project are also best served by on-site workers who are an integral part of the educational research and demonstration of low impact living. On-site workers also provide security for the facilities, tools and other equipment. In addition to the functional reasons for living at the woods, it is an essential part of our philosophy and management technique to be living close to nature, observing the land throughout the year and in all weather conditions. Furthermore, affordable rural accommodation is in very short supply, and by making no demands upon the utilities (water, electricity, gas, sewage disposal) we will be saving public money. In short, this project (which many people locally and around the country find laudable) would be very hard, if not impossible, to achieve without a residential element. Commuting to work is the antithesis of sustainability. It would not only put extra strain on the roads, but integrating people with nature and with low impact production is a vital ingredient of sustainable development.

We would also like to respond quickly to some people’s concerns (which we appreciate) about our ability to live here over the winter. Many of those involved in the project have lived in a similar way in the countryside before and are used to winter conditions. Furthermore, the structures that we are building (insulated, comfortable, low impact dwellings with wood burners) have been used over a long period of time to house people during the winter and we are confident that they will keep us warm and dry during that season.

Here are the conditions that we would be happy to agree to in a s.106 agreement or otherwise:

1. That the planning permission granted be temporary permission for 5 years. In other words, the permission would not be open-ended and would be reassessed by the DNPA after 5 years.
2. That the number of permanent adult residents be limited to a maximum of 20. As you know, there are currently 10 permanent adult residents with no children at the woods. In order to limit the effect on the wildlife and the woods of human occupation, and because of the limited capacity of the infrastructure for human habitation that we have set up, we have decided that there shall be no more than 20 adult residents staying in the woods at any one time. We feel that the resident community is a cohesive group and large enough for setting up the project but we do feel that there needs to be some room for expansion in the future. Thus, we would be happy to agree to this limit.
3. That the settlement area be limited to a defined area within the woods. It has already been decided by us to limit the area of human habitation for the following reasons:
   1. So that we remain a cohesive community with a ‘village’ feel, rather than being dispersed throughout the wood and disparate.
   2. So that the impact on the wood and wildlife of human habitation is limited.
   3. We plan to set up a woodland walk for the public which would have a peripheral route through the woods. In order to maintain our privacy, the settlement area is in the middle of the woods so that the woodland walk can be routed around it.

4. That the maximum number of vehicles for residents on site be limited to 3. For our policy and commitments on minimising vehicle use and use of fossil fuel powered machinery, please see our covering letter accompanying the planning application (particularly page 13 of the letter).
5. That the planning permission granted be subject to the "Fifteen Criteria for sustainable developments in the countryside" as produced by The Rural Planning Group of The Land Is Ours, a group of experts in this field. We enclosed a copy of the report setting out the Fifteen Criteria with our planning application. For ease of reference, we attach a copy of the Fifteen Criteria with this letter. Granting planning permission subject to these criteria would ensure that the change of use allowing residential occupation could only be associated with a sustainable, ecological project. How we intend to meet the Fifteen Criteria is set out in detail in our covering letter accompanying the planning application. We would, however, like to draw your attention to one point, namely the twelfth criterion. There are no utility connections to the woods (other than a BT phone line) and we will not be connected to any of the utilities (water, electricity, gas, sewage disposal), providing all of these services ourselves by ecological and sustainable means (filtered spring water, reed bed ‘grey water’ filtering, renewable energy, compost toilets).

Dan Mills

on behalf of Affinity Woodland Workers Co-operative Limited