Autonomous Geographies: casestudy3

Case Studies

3. Sustainable Living and Living Autonomously: the Lammas Low Impact Settlement Project

This theme examines the practicalities of seeking to live autonomously within the UK. Using examples of Low Impact Developments the ways in which autonomous sustainable living can be practiced with regards to land, housing, food, and energy help us to further understand what has been achieved and what is possible.

We are mainly working with Lammas, a low impact settlement project in south west Wales. We are also working with several other groups (rural and urban) across the UK in order to explore different contexts and experiences. This includes Hockerton Housing Project, Hill Holt Wood, Brighton Earthship, Project X, and Steward Woodland Community.

Tony’s low impact roundhouse at Brithdir Mawr

Low Impact Development

A Low Impact Development is one which works with the natural world to create both a dwelling and livelihood in harmony with the landscape. It aims to have minimal visual, environmental and social (traffic, noise and light pollution) impact. The dwellings visually blend with their environment and create highly efficient living spaces.

Low Impact Living

The residents create their livelihood largely from the land which they occupy. Low impact development necessitates a localised, environmentally friendly lifestyle. This includes using permaculture methods for food production. Low impact living also involves dealing creatively with waste. At Hockerton they use a reed bed system to deal with toilet waste. The Brighton Earthship has used old car tyres to form their thick insulating walls.

Lammas

Lammas is an organisation dedicated to promoting low impact development throughout the UK as one pathway towards sustainability. The group is currently developing a settlement of 20 smallholdings on 175 acres of south-facing land at Pont y Gafel farm, Glandwr, Pembrokeshire, Wales (click here for their proposal). The settlement will be staggered into two stages over 5 years to allow the settlement to integrate with the wider community.

Stage 1 will see Lammas submit a planning application in April 2007 for nine eco-smallholdings and a community building.

Views of the land at Pont y Gafel (click to enlarge)

Their intention is that the dwellings will merge with the natural environment that surrounds them. They will be highly innovative yet simple, using the latest environmental technologies combined with local natural materials. They will be sited across the land on 5 acre plots. Residents of the settlement will need to demonstrate that they are working the land in order to live there. As a result the project will create a wide range of fresh food and craft which will be available for local people to buy.

The development will provide its own electricity and water. In order to keep traffic impact low, the settlement will have a limit on the number of vehicles it is allowed (probably 15 – 20). Some of the plots will be reserved for local people who would like to explore low impact living.

The land purchase will be financed by a share issue (launched in spring 2007) and by the sale of leases. Shareholders thus become voting members of the society. This approach is inspired by the success of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative in Shropshire, England which used £50 share sales of an IPS to raise £500,000 to save an organic farm from development. Lammas aims to sell 5000 shares at £100 each and this will ensure the creation of a rolling fund which can go on to help many other projects get off the ground.

After 2 years of work, Lammas submitted its planning application to Pembrokeshire County Council on June 1st. Lammas is now appealing for letters of support

The group are keen for the project to be used as educational stimuli both to promote other such developments and to better understand the successes and challenges of sustainable and autonomous living.

A public launch of the Lammas proposal in Narbeth and scenes before an afternoon of local participation held at Pont y Gafel on 10th June 2006 (click to enlarge)

Thus far we have been involved in helping the group gain feedback from locals about their proposal and have authored a report of the consultation.

We have also written or co-produced a number of other articles, all of which can be downloaded from the Resources section on this page.