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Members of an ecological woodland community on the edge of Dartmoor
have been told to pack their bags after a Government inspector confirmed
they were breaking the law.
The Steward Community paid £50,000 to buy their 32-acre site, but
when they applied to the National Park for planning permission they
were turned down.
A Government inquiry is now backing this decision and the residents
have been told to leave.
But the
debate over whether the Steward Community should stay or go has
split the moorland town of Mortonhampstead.
Ben Leary, one
of those living in the commune, said: "We thought we were going
to get it. The planning inquiry went very well and many people came
away thinking the decision would be in our favour, so it came as
something of a shock. But right from the beginning we knew it would
be very difficult to get planning permission."
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Life
is comfortable inside the makeshift shelters
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The community
moved onto the woodland site 18 months ago. Their vision was to
create a more simple and sustainable way of life.
Members of the community pay particular attention to the resources
they use on a day-to-day basis and exactly how much waste they generate.
But their sustainable lifestyle is not something that is likely
to sway officials from the National Park. Spokesman Graham Wall
said enforcement action will now be considered.
"What the co-operative are trying to do is establish a new
settlement in woodland some considerable distance from Mortonhampstead
or any other established settlement," he said."That is
contrary to both local and national policies in respect of development
in the countryside especially the national park.
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Members
of the community practice a sustainable lifestyle
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"There
is no planning permission for what they are doing there and we have
to consider the next steps. From our point of view, that will mean
enforcement action to require them to vacate," explained Mr
Wall.
Now an appeal
against the inspectorate ruling has brought fresh hope that it is
only a matter of time before planning permission is granted.
"I am quite certain we will eventually get permission because
it is common sense that people do need access to land in order to
live, grow food and provide shelter in a sustainable way,"
said Ben Leary.
"It is absolutely ridiculous that in the UK if people want
to do that they generally have to go to another country."
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