Some of the letters of support so far...
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Below are just a few of the eighty plus letters that have been sent the the Dartmoor National Park Authority in support of our planning application. We have been amazed by the level of support not just from the local area and the South West, but from all over the country (and one from Sweden). The one directly below is from the Dartmoor Preservation Association and was read to the planning committee of the DNPA during their meeting on the 1st September. |
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August 29, 2000 Low impact, sustainable development associated with agricultural/forestry enterprise incorporating educational and residential elements, Stewart Community Woodland, Moretonhampstead Sir After some reflection, the Dartmoor Preservation Association wishes to support this application. We feel that the authority should recognise that there are ways to live within the national park that do not fit into the usual residential pattern. If allowed, this could prove to be a most interesting social experiment on how to live in a way that is harmonious with nature. We would urge the authority to give limited planning permission, say for a period of five years, with the experiment being closely monitored and regulated; the applicants to work closely with both the authority and the Environment Agency on developing satisfactory ways to overcome any problems with the disposal of surface water – though having examined the site we feel that the EA has exaggerated these difficulties. The DPA does not consider this development to be an eyesore or a blot upon the landscape. After all, most people in Moretonhampstead were unaware that the applicants were even there until they advertised their presence. Certainly, this very low impact development is less damaging to the surroundings of Moretonhampstead than the proposed urban sprawl at Betton Way, agreed by the authority at its last meeting. We would be grateful if you would read this letter in full to all members of the planning committee. Yours sincerely |
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4th.September, 2000. Dear Mr.Aven, Having carefully read the proposals for planning permission for the above, visited the woodland site, spoken to the young men and women who wish to manage the woods, and listened to the arguments both for and against the planning permission at the meeting at Parke last Friday, I am writing to give my wholehearted support for their application for change of use to agriculture/forestry with educational and residential elements. I believe that there used to be a large house on this site, so I can see little objection in granting planning permission for what are, in effect, temporary and biodegradable dwellings. I can understand that the residents of those cottages which actually back on to the woods have certain reservations about granting such permission -- a step into the unknown is bound to create some anxiety -- but I believe that the self-imposed regulations (restrictions on the number of people living there, review after five years etc.) plus their acceptance of any further conditions which the D.N.P. Authority wish to impose should more than reassure the handful of households who might be affected. These restrictions also mean that D.N.P.A. can fulfil any obligations they, as controlling authority, have. It was encouraging to hear the very positive support and reasoned arguments offered by the Dartmoor Preservation Society. To conclude, the Affinity Woodland Workers Co-operative is a genuine group of young people who would like to be given the opportunity live in and manage the woods in an ecologically balanced manner. I do not believe that they have been "economic with the truth" nor that they have some kind of hidden agenda. I would, therefore, like to support their application in full. Yours sincerely, Mrs.P.A.Laflin. |
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8th August 2000 Dear Mr Aven, I am writing to express my support for the application for change of use for the above site. I am one of the leading teachers of permaculture to adults in Britain and the author of Permaculture in a Nutshell and How to Make a Forest Garden. The Steward Community Woodland project is a very welcome initiative in the field of sustainable development in a number of different ways. Restoring the wood to broadleaf trees will be beneficial both to landscape and to wildlife and the local ecology generally. The proposed work in woodland crafts and organic food growing will not only provide low-impact employment in the area, but act as an example to others of what can be done. The planned increase in opportunities for access, recreation, tourism and education will be beneficial both to local residents and to visitors to the National Park. In short there will be benefits to both the local environment and the local economy. This is exactly the kind of development we need to encourage if we are to move towards a more sustainable future. The full benefits of these changes will be hard to achieve without at least some 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. The value of the project as a demonstration of how we can live in a more sustainable way would be greatly enhanced if some members of the project could live on site. With appropriate design the visual impact of a dwelling or dwellings could be nil in this wooded landscape. It would be very much in line with the aims of the project if the residents agreed to take full responsibility for supplying their own power, fuel, water supply and sewage disposal on site. This is what the project members want to do anyway, and they are fully aware of the low-impact technologies required to achieve it. Given the reduction in traffic that residential permission would bring, the net effect would be to reduce the burden on the local infrastructure rather than to increase it. A development along these lines would be a great asset to those of us who would like to see more examples of genuinely sustainable development in Britain, and would equally be an asset to the National Park. Yours sincerely, |
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August 2000 Dear James Aven I am writing in support of the above application submitted by Affinity Woodland Workers Coop. They have so far established a small low impact settlement based on permaculture principles. I am a researcher at Kings College London addressing the environmental implications of new rural housing developments. Demonstrations projects such as these enable people to see what changes they can make in their own home or gardens to benefit the environment. They also have the potential to act as a catalyst to a more sustainable pattern of rural development. The current application to obtain legal right to be resident on the land is essential for this project to flourish. The project aims to contribute in a positive way to local sustainability benefiting both the environment and the local economy. The project will result in increasing opportunities for access, recreation, tourism, and education in keeping with the National Park setting. As well as tourism benefits the project will also produce organic food, renewable fuels, medicinal herbs and other useful products. Yours Sincerely, Alina Congreve. |
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Dear James Aven, Planning application by Steward Community Woodland, reference number 0427 / 00 I am writing to you in support of the planning application by Steward Community Woodland. I am a researcher at the School of Planning, Oxford Brookes University, investigating the response of the planning system to innovations in eco-housing and ecological land management. Although I am now living in Oxford, I grew up in Dartmoor National Park in the village of Horrabridge, and so have a deep interest in the future of the area. I feel that the benefits from introducing a holistic project for sustainable woodland management are sufficient justification in this case to set aside the normal presumption against development in the National Park. Indeed I feel that the restrictions on development in the open countryside in PPG3, PPG7 and PPG13 were written to help deliver sustainability objectives, and it is farcical for authorities to refuse truly sustainable projects using these policies. So I ask you to consider the ‘policy behind the policy’ and to give your support to this application. I hope you will be able to represent this view to the planning committee. Your sincerely
Lucy Nichol
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