First UK eco-village wins planning permission

A proposed eco-development in south Wales was awarded planning permission Thursday following a two-year battle.

The Pembrokeshire eco-village will feature nine eco-smallholdings, a community hub building, and a seasonal campsite.

Houses in the village will be built with local, natural materials, including earth, timber, turf, and straw, and will incorporate sustainable technologies such as passive solar heating, rainwater harvesting, and renewable electricity generation.

The village will be fully independent of all mains services. Water will be sourced from a spring on the site and harvested rainwater.

Fuel, in the form of coppiced willow and elephant grass, will be grown on site, and all organic waste will be composted.

Lammas, the group behind the eco-village, first submitted their planning application in June 2007.

After being turned down twice by Pembrokeshire County Council, the plans were put before the Welsh Assembly Planning Inspectorate, who granted permission following a well-attended public hearing.

“At last we can begin building our homes,” said Cassandra Lishman, prospective resident and local businesswoman.

“We are delighted that the Welsh Assembly Government is bold enough to put their policies into practice.”

Paul Wimbush, Lammas founder, said the village has been designed to have minimum impact on the environment.

“We want to build an eco-village in which people can live lightly on the earth in modern eco-houses,” Wimbush said.

“The project is unusual in that on the one hand it takes a green approach to all aspects of living and on the other hand is structured very much like a conventional village.”

Planning inspectors have imposed strict regulations on the eco-village, including requirements that buildings on the site must have a very low visual impact and blend into the landscape.

In addition, the smallholdings will be developed according to the principles of permaculture.

“Permaculture is a land-management approach that meets people’s needs through replicating natural ecosystems,” Wimbush explained.

“It is diverse and human-scale by its very nature as opposed to agriculture which tends towards big machines and monocultures.

“This way we can turn what is considered as poor land into something incredibly productive.”

Construction on the village will start in the autumn.