West Country Yurt Victory

[mark]

Couple win appeal to stay in yurt (BBC UK News February 2 2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/4675696.stm

Devon yurt

The couple have lived in the yurt for six years
A Devon couple who live in a Mongolian-style yurt have won their 
appeal to stay in their hut home.

Marcus Tribe and Sarah Harvey have lived largely self-sustained on a 
seven-acre site at Nomansland, near Tiverton, for the past six years.

Mid Devon District Council ordered them to demolish the hut last December.

Previous story:-

Eco-couple told to demolish yurt  23Dec 2005 BBC

The couple have appealed against the eviction notice
A Devon couple who live in a Mongolian-style hut in the middle of a 
wood in Devon have been ordered to demolish their home.

Fifth-generation woodsman Marcus Tribe and his partner, Sarah Harvey, 
live in the hut, or yurt, in woodland Mr Tribe owns near Nomansland, 
near Tiverton.

Mid Devon District Council opposes the structure, but the parish 
council has backed the couple to live there.

A planning inspector will look at their case again in January.

Community support

Although their lifestyle is almost totally self-sufficient and 
eco-friendly, the home-made yurt and Mr Tribe's workshop do not fit 
in with local planning laws.

In a statement, Mid Devon District Council said that the couple were 
refused planning permission two years ago and an enforcement order 
had now been issued.

Mr Tribe said: "I haven't lived in a house now for nearly 17 years... 
We're pretty used to this way of life."

Many members of the local community support them. Thelbridge Parish 
Council has unanimously backed them in their wish to continue living there.

Bob Charlton, of the parish council, said: "Perhaps they don't fit a 
household stereotype in the normal way, but their sustainable way of 
living is something that should be looked at much more closely and 
perhaps can teach us lessons.

"Perhaps we should be learning from them, as opposed to telling them 
to go away."

Marcus Tribe and Sarah Harvey have appealed against their eviction notice.

Mid Devon District Council said a planning inspector would look at 
their case again in January. The couple will then have a year to 
comply with any order made.


But an inspector has granted them permission to stay so long as they 
do not extend it, and ensure it is removed if they leave the site.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20060203/f2f069d2/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 196 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20060203/f2f069d2/attachment.bin>