Log cabin home

[Dean Lofthouse]

You can get private contractors in if you wish as long as they are this that and the other qualified I think

[dustydave]

Are they quoting for putting it in a trench as this always seem to bump the price up? I think that they have an average trench cost; which is averaged accross city street/ agricultural field access - hence the high price. I had a quote last year to bring a cable 80 metres away through a field for 10k. Luckily the neighbour refused access in a trench, so I got them to requote this year, bringing the supply via poles to the far corner of my land and have the meter box there - the new quote was for 2k

 

The far corner (nearest pole) is 100metres from the barn, so the lads doing the poles/ connection decided that they'd put the trench in for me (they had a jcb on site for the poles) - took them a day and they refused any payment (great lads!) put 10mm armoured cable in trench (£350), then connected up.

[Tree Man Tom]

We just had a quote for a mains electric supply (we run off generator currently)

 

Surprisingly underground was cheaper than over ground.

[Stereo]

When we put in a supply to our barn conversion we hired a digger and did all the trench work ourselves to spec. They even gave us the cable to lay in and all they did was come out, inspect what we had done, connected it at each end and supervised the back fill and warning tape etc. This was a while ago but it cost very little, a couple or 3 grand I think.

 

On the subject of planning, my advice would be to link it in some way to some form of enterprise, especially if you can provide even temporary work to others. There is now a presumption in favour of sustainable develpoment and what that really means is that you have to show that you are bringing productivity and hopefully employment to your bit of the countryside. If you can throw in some form of public ammenity, even better. The best approach would be to do up a business plan showing why you need each cabin and why you need to live on site.

 

Just buying a field and expecting to get a house on it is pie in the sky in most parts of the UK I'm afraid. I have a field which would be a dream place for a cabin and we are trying to plan out how we can do the above within the regulations. As a parish councillor, I can't just bung one up and go for certificate of lawfullness in 10 years time, tempting though it is. On that note, the law has been changed on this so that a certificate can be refused even after 10 years if the planners can show that you have deliberately concealed the breach (like putting it inside a barn or planting high trees all around it and then cutting them down after 10 years, so take care on that on. It's a new rule so not any precedents yet I believe.

 

As for planners being envious busy bodies, I can see why people think that and surely some are but many are fair, decent people. My motivation for joining the council was not so much to tell people what to do, it was more to make sure we didn't get a council or people who had only moved into the parish 6 months ago. Our primary aim is to keep our nose out of people's business as much as possible.

 

My final point would be that these cabins are stunning and I can see the appeal. But. 20 or so years ago, my Dad gave up farming in a big way and sold off a huge chunk of the farm. Many fields around us have ended up as 'smallholdings' or just people putting caravans, yurts, cabins or whatever on them and to be honest, 90% of these places look like junk yards and are a disgrace and there is little or nothing anyone can do. You cannot blame the planners for not wanting to see this all over the countryside. People dream of owning a couple acres and usually it ends up as a dumping ground with the mandatory shipping container, a knackered Landy and a few rotten tarps floating around the place.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Good point Stereo, I must make the yard Spick and span before inviting any planner to site.

Been down today, tidying up a bit.

First two are before and after, others are my yard and the land.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Well, my architect has been and had a meeting with the head of planning and although the proposal wasn't met with open arms being on green belt, it wasn't thrown out and she did listen.

 

My proposal to the architect was, apart from the obvious need to be on site for security and business needs, I want to have the site as a model of sustainability and conservation. Stag beetles, deadwood piles, wild bee friendly flowers on the banking etc etc. I am friendly with the heads of three local schools and would encourage them to arrange school visits to site to show how living off grid and environmental sustainability can be achieved and also to show the conservation side of things, there are already project on the go in the scout camp on the same site.

 

I will be also using screw in foundations which involve no digging, so if the homes are ever taken down the site can be put back to original quite quickly, the piles simply screw back out. Sewage will also be processed on site, the only thing coming into site will be mains water and clean water going back out.

 

The planners may stipulate that the homes can only be occupied by me and my immediate family, as long as it can be passed down the family I wouldn't mind this.

 

Next step is a more detailed explanation of the proposal and go back and see her again. The one thing I am genuinely doing is not doing this for profit or gain, I just want the perfect home for me and the kids

[Dean Lofthouse]

Ill try and upload a panoramic

[Dean Lofthouse]

Nah....that's pretty crap really..but it sort of shows I've cleared a load of saplings at the bottom which were planted in clay and dying off, which has opened it right up

Edited May 4, 2013 by Dean Lofthouse

[alex_m]

Well, my architect has been and had a meeting with the head of planning and although the proposal wasn't met with open arms being on green belt, it wasn't thrown out and she did listen.

 

My proposal to the architect was, apart from the obvious need to be on site for security and business needs, I want to have the site as a model of sustainability and conservation. Stag beetles, deadwood piles, wild bee friendly flowers on the banking etc etc. I am friendly with the heads of three local schools and would encourage them to arrange school visits to site to show how living off grid and environmental sustainability can be achieved and also to show the conservation side of things, there are already project on the go in the scout camp on the same site.

 

I will be also using screw in foundations which involve no digging, so if the homes are ever taken down the site can be put back to original quite quickly, the piles simply screw back out. Sewage will also be processed on site, the only thing coming into site will be mains water and clean water going back out.

 

The planners may stipulate that the homes can only be occupied by me and my immediate family, as long as it can be passed down the family I wouldn't mind this.

 

Next step is a more detailed explanation of the proposal and go back and see her again. The one thing I am genuinely doing is not doing this for profit or gain, I just want the perfect home for me and the kids

 

Good luck with this Dean, it's what my girlfriend and I would like to do in the future. In the mean while, we're building an off grid vehicle at the moment (just ordered my solar panels and massive leisure batteries actually!)

 

What's the system you're using for the sewage?

[Dean Lofthouse]

Another from the bottom of the site looking up in winter obviously