Category — LAND

What harm could this do?

“Proud to be a hutter”, is the slogan of a new campaign called A Thousand Huts which has sprung up to champion and revive hutting as a way of life. Widespread in Scandinavia, its supporters say hutting promotes low-impact, ecological living and rural regeneration, and puts city dwellers back in contact with the countryside.

In 2012, hutters, landowners and environmental activists will launch a new Scottish hutting federation to spearhead a campaign aimed at reforming planning and land rights laws, to give hutters proper status in the planning system and protect them against eviction and exploitation by landlords. (more…)

Break free and make dough

Having an off-grid home used to reduce its value but now being off-grid can increase a property’s value says a national firm of valuers in the US.

The rising price of energy is the reason says Propell National Valuers chief executive officer Bart Mead

‘‘Some properties have had considerable amounts spent on ‘improvements’ that, if not attractive to others, may provide no added value,’’ he said.

He used the example of the use of alternative energy sources to power properties. (more…)

Katie - mucks out the stables herself, apparently

Katie Price, referred to in the media as a “reality TV star,” has been given planning permission for a temporary shed in her grounds to house her family while improvements are carried out to her main home.

The local planners near her home in Sussex said that because the millionaire celebrity owned horses which she might need to look after at night, she had a right to live there.  This is an important ruling which the off-grid community in the UK will be studying closely. Clearly its no obstacle even if you have grooms to the the main work for you as long as they live elsewhere. (more…)

This December will be 4 years for us living 100% off grid, I can tell you it’s been quite the adventure, my only regret is that we didn’t do this earlier. Let me recap what we have been doing these 4 years…

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Paladino: Fighting the Utilities

Buffalo developer Carl P. Paladino has filed separate lawsuits against National Grid and Verizon over what he claims are outrageous charges for moving utility lines and poles to accommodate new businesses.

Describing the utilities as “sick with greed,” Paladino says he has no choice but to take legal action because the state’s Public Service Commission has failed to hold “monopolistic” utilities accountable.

Paladino,a GOP politician, claims the utility companies refuse to detail how they arrive at prices when running lines to a newly constructed building or reconfiguring service to renovated properties.

The refusal, Paladino says, indicates the utilities have something to hide.

“In both cases, there has been collusion, overbilling, mis-billing and fraud,” he said. (more…)

Homesteading, it’s a buzzword that means different things to different people, back in the day, it meant getting land for free as long as you lived on it and improved it for x number of years. It was a way to get people to move west (in the USA), back when travel was slow and painful, even dangerous.
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Whatever next?

He sold his life on eBay and travelled the world – now Ian Usher has bought his own Caribbean island.

Situated just off the coast of Bocas del Toro, in north-west Panama, Mr Usher’s private tropical getaway has no name and is undeveloped.

The 47-year-old, who hit the headlines in 2008 when he sold his Australian home, car, job and friends as a package on internet auction site eBay after splitting from his wife, bought the 2.2-acre island from an anonymous British ex-pat for an undisclosed sum.

It was purchased by Darlington- born Mr Usher for less than $50,000 (£30,000). (more…)

Better without the Towers

Help persuade National Park Service (NPS) to block massive powerlines across Everglades National Park.  Our voices are definitely being heard.

The deadline for electronic submission of public comments is next Monday, July 25th, at midnight.  Comment form is here:

http://m1e.net/c?86992467-OI.yp3JDVmPx6%406643204-IJ3mSNbgWPMxo

Some things to consider with regard to submitting comments.  Everglades National Park contains remnants of a completely unique planetary ecosystem.  In addition to being the first “biological park” in our nation’s history and by far the largest designated wilderness in the eastern United States, the park is also a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.   (more…)

Many ways around the law

As the numbers who cannot afford a conventional home continue to climb,there is greater interest in living off grid as a solution to the housing crisis.  The problem is that property developers sit on available residential land, making it unaffordable for groups of ordinary people to get together and live somewhere pleasant.  Sure its always possible to move to some god-forsaken windswept piece of moorland or desert, but living off the grid should not be so miserable. Here is a summary of the rules and how to get around them: (more…)