news
Our SHHE Community currently has 9 Adult Members, of which there are 2 couples with children. All Members have a £1 share each, and skills relevant to our current and projected Courses, Workshops and Retreats.
Our collective skills now include:
Current activities
(a) We are submitting a Proposal to the Dartington Hall Trust, to lease a 2-acre site and an existing woodcrafts barn adjoining the Dartington Trust Crafts Centre. The traditionally-built Barn is not used for woodcrafts courses at present, only as a groundfloor scrap store for recycling things; the upper floor is under-used. Also adjacent to this place is a Permacultural Forest Garden.
Our Proposals to make this site into our Sustainable Living and Creativity Centre is currently being considered by the Trust. Our General Secretary has provided them with an outline of our Proposals (click HERE to read the Proposals) including a list of our projected Courses and Workshops (see our Retreats and Courses pages), our need to build 3 Eco-Homes and a larger timber-frame and straw-bale Barn to house workshop rooms, a dining room and a kitchen, a small library-cum-lounge and toilets with showers. A small-scale Biogas Plant would also be built, to provide electricity, and compost for our food produce Gardens.
Paying leasehold rent avoids laying out most of our shared capital on purchase of a house and land, which would leave little for the building of the Barn and Eco-Homes – though this remains an option, see (c), below.
(b) The Barracks Hill Fields Project involves purchasing 2.5 acres of pasture fields zoned for Residential Development on the current Totnes Development Plan. Our General Secretary has designed a layout of 25 self-built Eco-Homes set in Permacultural edible gardens, and accessed by footpaths, not roads. Cars are kept in garages nearby to the entrance to the site. SHHECom can purchase once deposits (at least 50% of plot costs) for home-built plots have been received for around 50% of the plots.
A multi-purpose Community Centre is included with Residents’ restaurant, cafés, kitchen, lounge, small library, Natural Health studios and sauna. All electrical power is provided by 2 Biogas Plants, to process mostly-green wastes, and 2 Wind Turbines on a hilltop.
This Project is described further in an article published in the June 208 Issue of the Town & Country Planning Association Journal, reproduced in the Projects section of our sibling Eco-Architecture and Planning Website.
(Click HERE for more information about Biogas Plant design.)
(c) Purchase of Higher Grove House for our Centre: this 4-bedroomed house has a garden, orchard and just under 6 acres of land adjoining Tigley hamlet, near Totnes. There is a large barn near the House, which may be included in the sale at an additional price. The asking price for the House plus land is £450,000. Although it is in many ways ideal, it would involve raising around £300l ourselves, with the rest coming via mortgage.
Two families with 3 young children between them could live in the House, and the large Barn could be converted into 3 Flats, as its 2 storeys is modern-built, so no restrictions such as those of Listed Buildings. Surely 2 family-couples could together raise the £300k and move in – and the remaining £150k mortgage is possibly affordable?
Post your comments and suggestions on the Feedback page!
Or email our General Secretary, Jeffrey Gale: jeffrey@worldpeacegardensnet.org.
Our SHHE Community currently has 9 Adult Members, of which there are 2 couples with children. All Members have a £1 share each, and skills relevant to our current and projected Courses, Workshops and Retreats.
Our collective skills now include:
- eco-home building
- integrated energy and waste usage systems
- water saving and recycling
- Permacultural land / garden design & build
- good diet and kitchen skills
- self-employment and localised business skills
- sustainable living knowledge and skills
- designing and building a small-scale biogas plant
- intuitive watercolour painting
- local wood furniture-making
Current activities
(a) We are submitting a Proposal to the Dartington Hall Trust, to lease a 2-acre site and an existing woodcrafts barn adjoining the Dartington Trust Crafts Centre. The traditionally-built Barn is not used for woodcrafts courses at present, only as a groundfloor scrap store for recycling things; the upper floor is under-used. Also adjacent to this place is a Permacultural Forest Garden.
Our Proposals to make this site into our Sustainable Living and Creativity Centre is currently being considered by the Trust. Our General Secretary has provided them with an outline of our Proposals (click HERE to read the Proposals) including a list of our projected Courses and Workshops (see our Retreats and Courses pages), our need to build 3 Eco-Homes and a larger timber-frame and straw-bale Barn to house workshop rooms, a dining room and a kitchen, a small library-cum-lounge and toilets with showers. A small-scale Biogas Plant would also be built, to provide electricity, and compost for our food produce Gardens.
Paying leasehold rent avoids laying out most of our shared capital on purchase of a house and land, which would leave little for the building of the Barn and Eco-Homes – though this remains an option, see (c), below.
(b) The Barracks Hill Fields Project involves purchasing 2.5 acres of pasture fields zoned for Residential Development on the current Totnes Development Plan. Our General Secretary has designed a layout of 25 self-built Eco-Homes set in Permacultural edible gardens, and accessed by footpaths, not roads. Cars are kept in garages nearby to the entrance to the site. SHHECom can purchase once deposits (at least 50% of plot costs) for home-built plots have been received for around 50% of the plots.
A multi-purpose Community Centre is included with Residents’ restaurant, cafés, kitchen, lounge, small library, Natural Health studios and sauna. All electrical power is provided by 2 Biogas Plants, to process mostly-green wastes, and 2 Wind Turbines on a hilltop.
This Project is described further in an article published in the June 208 Issue of the Town & Country Planning Association Journal, reproduced in the Projects section of our sibling Eco-Architecture and Planning Website.
(Click HERE for more information about Biogas Plant design.)
(c) Purchase of Higher Grove House for our Centre: this 4-bedroomed house has a garden, orchard and just under 6 acres of land adjoining Tigley hamlet, near Totnes. There is a large barn near the House, which may be included in the sale at an additional price. The asking price for the House plus land is £450,000. Although it is in many ways ideal, it would involve raising around £300l ourselves, with the rest coming via mortgage.
Two families with 3 young children between them could live in the House, and the large Barn could be converted into 3 Flats, as its 2 storeys is modern-built, so no restrictions such as those of Listed Buildings. Surely 2 family-couples could together raise the £300k and move in – and the remaining £150k mortgage is possibly affordable?
Post your comments and suggestions on the Feedback page!
Or email our General Secretary, Jeffrey Gale: jeffrey@worldpeacegardensnet.org.
website updates
21.10.08
SHHECom updates added to News page; Project Proposals moved to its own page.
18.10.08
Project Proposal added to News page.
13.10.08
Entry for Martin Bowes updated on Core Group Members page.
23.09.08
Community Love page revised. Downloadable .doc file version also revised.
Permaculture Design section added with subpages, gallery and downloads pages.
Descriptions added to Retreats and Courses page; the page is now available as a printable .doc file via the Downloads page.
Eco-architecture page added as sub-page to Principles.
05.08.08
Core Group Members page revised and extended - this page is now a sub-page to About SHHECom; it is now also available as a download.
04.03.08
Application Form is now available as a download.
Aims & Constitutional Objectives page added together with download version.
Vision Statement page added together with download version.
Legal Structure Update page revised and is now also available as a download.
03.08.08
Community Love page revised and is now also available as a download.
21.10.08
SHHECom updates added to News page; Project Proposals moved to its own page.
18.10.08
Project Proposal added to News page.
13.10.08
Entry for Martin Bowes updated on Core Group Members page.
23.09.08
Community Love page revised. Downloadable .doc file version also revised.
Permaculture Design section added with subpages, gallery and downloads pages.
Descriptions added to Retreats and Courses page; the page is now available as a printable .doc file via the Downloads page.
Eco-architecture page added as sub-page to Principles.
05.08.08
Core Group Members page revised and extended - this page is now a sub-page to About SHHECom; it is now also available as a download.
04.03.08
Application Form is now available as a download.
Aims & Constitutional Objectives page added together with download version.
Vision Statement page added together with download version.
Legal Structure Update page revised and is now also available as a download.
03.08.08
Community Love page revised and is now also available as a download.