4 ms·

I wonder if people get hassled to no end by planning boards about one-off dwellings, infrastructure, etc. It's wonderful to see this sort of thing still exists

I wonder if people get hassled to no end by planning boards about one-off dwellings, infrastructure, etc. It's wonderful to see this sort of thing still exists, and you can in fact have a home without working on dumb shit that doesn't matter (aka most jobs) for 5-10 years to pay for it.

sclangdon 8y ago
Wales introduced the One Planet scheme in 2011 to try and make this easier [0] (it's debatable whether it is, in-fact easier). The Lammas eco-village [1] in Wales is very similar to the one in the OP, and is one of the driving forces for this kind of movement (and the One Planet scheme). [0] https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/090521susdev1wales1planeten.pdf https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/090521susdev1wales1... [1] http://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/ http://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/
- CalRobert 8y ago
  Thanks! I considered moving to an eco-village in Ireland (Cloughjordan) but they told me it would be at least a year before getting planning permission to build anything.
- tomcam 8y ago
  Elon Musk appears to be developing a Two Planet scheme
  - tinus_hn 8y ago
    It’s a step up from the No Planet scheme we had before.
    - starbeast 8y ago
      I've been making plans for a three planet scheme, but the complexity keeps increasing so I'm not sure I will finish them.
arethuza 8y ago
You can find their planning applications here by searching for "Scoraig": https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/ https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/
londons_explore 8y ago
Far enough away from civilization one can generally build anything without any permits etc. By the time anyone 'official' finds out about your building, it will have been there decades, and usually it will have exceeded any time limit for them to tell you to pull it down.
mmsimanga 8y ago
In large parts of Africa we generally have two types of land. "Official" land that comes with a title deed and tribal land that you can be allocated by your chief or local leader. To build on "official" land you need your building plans approved. Inspectors will come and inspect your building during all the stages you are building. On tribal land you build whatever the hell you want. There was a time when upcoming African professionals shunned the village but now I sense we are starting to see things differently. Mansions are being built in villages. Less expensive than building in government areas. Less corruption too.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  That's fascinating - I'd be really curious to learn more about this system. Perhaps the initial intentions were good (I don't want a school next to a lead smelter) but planning seems to have become a tool to reduce access to housing and strangle places' growth. Of course, do these mansions handle their own services? What do they do about externalities?
  - mmsimanga 8y ago
    It's a continuation of pretty how much Africans lived in the past, before colonisation. My theory is when colonisers arrived it was probably too much of a headache to try and assign everyone a title deed. Lead smelters and mines will need government permits. I meant you can build any house that you pretty much want. Most people will acquire the land in their village. Typically a young couple wanting their own home. There are two options. If you family has some land available, you can just go inform the headman that you will be building your home there. Second option is you approach headman who keeps tabs on land that is available. He will show you were to build. The community is always consulted before land is allocated. For example someone may object that you are too close to them and your livestock might cause problems with his garden. Other objecttions might be that the family closest has a son who is going to build there in near future. The headman tends to be aware of all these maters though and he tends to have spots ready to allocate. In the past we used to build Blair toilets[0]. People still fetch water from the well. Carrying the bucket on their head or pushing it in wheelbarrow. We are starting to dig boreholes (very expensive) and flushing toilets with septic tanks are starting to appear. Very few though have piped water. Gas stoves also starting to appear along with solar panels for lighting. We still have a long long way to go though. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_toilet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_toilet

sclangdon 8y ago

Wales introduced the One Planet scheme in 2011 to try and make this easier [0] (it's debatable whether it is, in-fact easier). The Lammas eco-village [1] in Wales is very similar to the one in the OP, and is one of the driving forces for this kind of movement (and the One Planet scheme). [0] https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/090521susdev1wales1planeten.pdf https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/090521susdev1wales1... [1] http://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/ http://lammas.org.uk/en/welcome-to-lammas/

CalRobert 8y ago
Thanks! I considered moving to an eco-village in Ireland (Cloughjordan) but they told me it would be at least a year before getting planning permission to build anything.
tomcam 8y ago
Elon Musk appears to be developing a Two Planet scheme
- tinus_hn 8y ago
  It’s a step up from the No Planet scheme we had before.
  - starbeast 8y ago
    I've been making plans for a three planet scheme, but the complexity keeps increasing so I'm not sure I will finish them.

arethuza 8y ago

You can find their planning applications here by searching for "Scoraig": https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/ https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/

londons_explore 8y ago

Far enough away from civilization one can generally build anything without any permits etc. By the time anyone 'official' finds out about your building, it will have been there decades, and usually it will have exceeded any time limit for them to tell you to pull it down.

mmsimanga 8y ago

In large parts of Africa we generally have two types of land. "Official" land that comes with a title deed and tribal land that you can be allocated by your chief or local leader. To build on "official" land you need your building plans approved. Inspectors will come and inspect your building during all the stages you are building. On tribal land you build whatever the hell you want. There was a time when upcoming African professionals shunned the village but now I sense we are starting to see things differently. Mansions are being built in villages. Less expensive than building in government areas. Less corruption too.

CalRobert 8y ago
That's fascinating - I'd be really curious to learn more about this system. Perhaps the initial intentions were good (I don't want a school next to a lead smelter) but planning seems to have become a tool to reduce access to housing and strangle places' growth. Of course, do these mansions handle their own services? What do they do about externalities?
- mmsimanga 8y ago
  It's a continuation of pretty how much Africans lived in the past, before colonisation. My theory is when colonisers arrived it was probably too much of a headache to try and assign everyone a title deed. Lead smelters and mines will need government permits. I meant you can build any house that you pretty much want. Most people will acquire the land in their village. Typically a young couple wanting their own home. There are two options. If you family has some land available, you can just go inform the headman that you will be building your home there. Second option is you approach headman who keeps tabs on land that is available. He will show you were to build. The community is always consulted before land is allocated. For example someone may object that you are too close to them and your livestock might cause problems with his garden. Other objecttions might be that the family closest has a son who is going to build there in near future. The headman tends to be aware of all these maters though and he tends to have spots ready to allocate. In the past we used to build Blair toilets[0]. People still fetch water from the well. Carrying the bucket on their head or pushing it in wheelbarrow. We are starting to dig boreholes (very expensive) and flushing toilets with septic tanks are starting to appear. Very few though have piped water. Gas stoves also starting to appear along with solar panels for lighting. We still have a long long way to go though. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_toilet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_toilet