Low-impact development (UK)

{{Short description|Developments with little or no environmental impact}}

{{About|the UK meaning of LID|the Canadian/US usage|Low-impact development (Canada/US)}}

Low-impact development (LID) has been defined as "development which through its low negative environmental impact either enhances or does not significantly diminish environmental quality".{{cite web|last=Maxey|first=Larch|title=Proof of Evidence of Dr Larch Maxey in relation to appeals APP/Y1138/ A/12/2181807, APP/Y1138/ A/12/2181808, and APP/Y1138/ A/12/2181821, evidence submitted to Mid Devon District Council planning inquiry|url=http://ecologicalland.coop/sites/ecologicalland.coop/files/LMProof.pdf|access-date=7 March 2013|date=December 2012}}{{cite book|title=Low Impact Development: The Future in our Hands|url=http://lowimpactdevelopment.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/low-impact-development-book2.pdf|editor=Pickerill, J. |editor2=Maxey, L.|chapter=What is Low Impact Development?}}{{cite web|last=Lewinsohn|first=Lisa|title=Planning Policy and Low Impact Developments – What are the planning barriers to low impact developments in rural areas in Britain and how might they be overcome?|url=https://eduardojones.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/lidthesis.pdf|work=MSc Thesis, Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies, CAT|access-date=6 March 2013|date=July 2008}}

The interplay between would-be developers and the UK planning authorities since the 1980s has led to a diversity of unique, locally adapted developments, often making use of natural, local and reclaimed materials in delivering highly affordable, low or zero carbon housing. These LIDs often strive to be self-sufficient in terms of waste management, energy, water and other needs.{{cite book|last=Woolley|first=Tom|title=Low Impact Building: Housing using Renewable Materials|year=2013|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4443-3660-3|url=http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1444336606.html}}

There are numerous examples of LIDs throughout the UK, and local and national authorities have come to recognise the need for the concept to be incorporated into planning strategies.

Definition

Low-impact development (LID), in the UK sense of the term, was described by Simon Fairlie, a former editor of The Ecologist magazine, in 1996 as: "development that through its low impact either enhances or does not significantly diminish environmental quality."{{cite book|last=Fairlie|first=Simon|title=Low impact development : planning and people in a sustainable countryside|year=1996|publisher=Jon Carpenter|location=Charlbury|isbn=1897766254|page=xiv|edition=Repr. with minor rev. 1997.}} Fairlie later wrote:

{{Blockquote|"Neither the term nor the concept was new. People have been living low impact lifestyles in low impact buildings for centuries; indeed until very recently the majority of people in the world lived that way."{{cite book|last=Pickerill|first=Jenny|author-link1=Jenny Pickerill|title=Low impact development : the future in our hands|year=2009|publisher=University of Leicester, Dept. of Geography]|location=[Leicester|isbn=978-1870474368|page=1|url=https://lowimpactdevelopment.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/low-impact-development-book2.pdf|author2=Maxey, L. }}}}

In 2009 Fairlie revised his definition of a LID as: "development which, by virtue of its low or benign environmental impact, may be allowed in locations where conventional development is not permitted." He explained:

{{Blockquote|"I prefer this revised definition because wrapped up in it is the main argument; that low impact buildings need not be bound by the restrictions necessary to protect the countryside from 'conventional' high impact development – a.k.a. suburban sprawl. There are two other principle arguments in favour of LID: (i) that some form of exception policy is necessary because conventional housing in a countryside protected from sprawl becomes too expensive for the people who work there; and (ii) soon we will all have to live more sustainable low impact lifestyles, so pioneers should be encouraged."}}

Others have expanded on the definition. A study by the University of West England acknowledged that: "LID is usually integrally connected with land management and as much as describing physical development, LID also describes a form of livelihood." However, it also states that as LID is a "multi featured and intrinsically integrated form of development," a simple definition cannot capture the meaning of LID and goes on to develop "a detailed themed definition with detailed criteria."

Dr Larch Maxey{{cite web|last=Maxey|first=Larch|title=The Future in Our Hands: Low Impact Development and Sustainability Transitions|url=https://www.academia.edu/184165|access-date=7 April 2013|location=Convergence on Zero Conference, Washington DC.|year=2009}} in 2013 held the main features of LID to be:

locally adapted, diverse and unique
based on renewable resources
of an appropriate scale
visually unobtrusive
enhances biodiversity
increases public access to open space
generates little traffic
linked to sustainable livelihoods
co-ordinated by a management plan

Examples

=England=

File:Whisky Barrel House in Findhorn Ecovillage.jpg

File:That roundhouse spring.jpg, Pembrokeshire, Wales]]

File:Pentre Solar, Glanrhyd, Pembrokeshire (Tony Holkham).jpg

English LID examples include the Hockerton Housing Project (Nottinghamshire), Michael Buck's cob house in Oxfordshire,{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} Landmatters (Devon){{cite news|title=Landmatters Coop gets planning approval!|url=http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379669.html|access-date=7 March 2013|newspaper=Indymedia|date=25 August 2007}} and Tinker's Bubble (Somerset).{{cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|title=Living with the Age of Entropy|url=http://www.monbiot.com/2004/08/23/living-with-the-age-of-entropy/|access-date=21 May 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 August 2004}}{{cite web|title=Tinker's Bubble|url=http://www.economads.com/log20020524-20020531.php|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Economads}}

Transition Homes, currently under development in Transition Town Totnes, Devon, is an attempt to scale-up and mainstream LID by providing around 25 low cost, low carbon homes designed along permaculture principles.{{cite web|title=Transition and Permaculture|url=http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/2013/03/transition-and-permaculture/|access-date=7 March 2013|date=1 March 2013}}{{cite web|title=Transition Homes|url=http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/groups/building-and-housing/transition-homes/|access-date=7 March 2013}}{{cite web|title=Transition Homes: Pudhaven Field Site Visit Feb 2013 (video)| website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omdqYqHQzKg|access-date=7 March 2013}} Residents will be allocated from the local housing needs register. Similarly, LILAC built in 2013 a 'Low Impact Living Affordable Community' of 20 homes and a common house in Bramley, Leeds,{{cite web|title=LILAC means Low Impact Living Affordable Community|url=http://www.lilac.coop/|access-date=7 March 2013|date=December 2012}}{{cite web|title=LILAC Cohousing Documentary (video)|url=http://vimeo.com/25449289#|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Brown Bread Films}}{{cite news|last=Norwood|first=Graham|title=Co-housing: a lifestyle with community spirit built into the foundations|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/feb/24/co-housing-lifestyle-community|access-date=7 March 2013|newspaper=The Observer|date=February 2013}} which was visited by Kevin McCloud and Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Housing and Local Government.{{cite web|title=Housing Minister and Kevin McCloud visit LILAC|url=http://lindumgroup.com/news/housing-minister-and-kevin-mccloud-visit-lilac|work=Lindum Group|access-date=11 April 2013|date=1 April 2013}}

BedZED (London) is another example of a larger scale LID, which was built in 2000–2002 and has 82 homes, however it is not as affordable as many of the above examples as it was partly designed to attract urban professionals.

=Scotland=

Findhorn Ecovillage has won a number of international awards. Steve James's Straw House, Dumfries was built for £4,000.{{cite news|last=Hill|first=Vicki|title=How I built my house for £4,000|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/how-i-built-my-house-for-4000-784278.html|access-date=24 March 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=20 February 2008}}

=Wales=

The House of the Future, Cardiff, completed in 2000, was originally a showcase of the latest green building technologies, and later transformed into an education centre.{{cite news|author=Abby Alford |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/its-back-future-st-fagans-2092627 |title=It's back to the future at St Fagans' hi-tech house |work=Wales Online |date=6 July 2009 |access-date=2016-03-09 }} That Roundhouse (Brithdir Mawr, Newport, Pembrokeshire) was granted planning permission in 2008 with a review in 3 years.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/25/ethicalliving.greenbuilding|title=Round the houses|work=The Guardian|date=12 April 2009|access-date=29 April 2019 | location=London | author=Patrick Barkham}} In West Wales, Lammas Ecovillage (near Crymych, Pembrokeshire) is a community of independent, off-grid households begun in 2009.{{cite news|title=Lammas: The eco-village that lives off the grid (video)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gardening-blog/video/2011/mar/22/lammas-eco-village-off-grid-video|access-date=7 March 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 March 2011|author=Heydon Prowse|author2=Tom Bell}}{{cite news|work=Western Telegraph|date=10 November 2014|title=Family's roundhouse plans unanimously backed|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/11591084.Family_s_roundhouse_plans_unanimously_backed/|access-date=10 November 2014}} Nearby Pwll Broga roundhouse is a development that was built without planning permission in 2012, refused retrospective planning permission in 2014,{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title='Hobbit home' to be demolished after Pembrokeshire vote|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-28530910|date=1 August 2014|access-date=2 August 2014}}{{cite news|title=North Pembrokeshire family fight to keep roundhouse they built without permission|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/10307996.North_Pembrokeshire_family_fight_to_keep_roundhouse_they_built_without_permission/?ref=la|access-date=24 March 2013|newspaper=Western Telegraph|date=22 March 2013}} but granted permission in July 2015, having met the requirements of the Welsh government's One Planet Development (OPD) policy.{{cite news|publisher=BBC|date=14 July 2015|title=Couple win appeal to save 'hobbit home' in Crymych|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-33528461|access-date=17 July 2015}} From 2010 to 2019, 24 applications had been approved in Wales, with the majority in Pembrokeshire, but there has been criticism that the developments were not being properly monitored for compliance with OPD:{{cite news|title=Put a stop to eco-homes being built, says councillor|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48084556|publisher=BBC News|date=29 April 2019|access-date=29 April 2019}} in essence that "developers can show they can make a basic income off the land and provide all their own energy and water". According to the BBC, in 2019 there were 41 registered OPD dwellings in Wales, with a climate scientist claiming there was scope, in terms of available land, for up to 10,000 such developments.{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Climate change: '10,000 families could live off-grid'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48769569|date=26 June 2019|access-date=26 June 2019}}

In 2017, the term "eco-hamlet" was used to describe Pentre Solar, a development of six houses at Glanrhyd, near Llantood, Pembrokeshire; using locally sourced timber, solar power and shared electric transport, the project was designed for local people on the council housing waiting list, and was supported by the Welsh Government. This was the first such project in Wales, and possibly in the UK, and was created by Western Solar, the company that established the first solar park in Wales, at Rhosygilwen, Rhoshill.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|author=Steven Morris|date=6 January 2017|title=Inside Glanrhyd, the first solar 'eco hamlet' in Wales|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/06/inside-glanrhyd-the-first-solar-eco-hamlet-in-wales|access-date=29 April 2019}}

Benefits

Substantial research has concluded that LID represents some of the most innovative and sustainable development in the UK.{{cite web|title=Low Impact Development – Planning Policy and Practice: Report to the Countryside Council for Wales|url=http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/LIDReportCCW2002.pdf|access-date=7 March 2013|author=University of the West of England|author2=Land Use Consultants|date=December 2002}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|title=Low Impact Development – Further Research, report to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority|url=http://www.lammas.org.uk//oldsite/lowimpact/documents/BakerAssociatesLID2004.pdf|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Baker Associates|date=February 2004}}{{cite web|title=Index of Low Impact Documents on Lammas website|url=http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Various|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423191433/http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/|archive-date=23 April 2013|url-status=dead}}

LIDs have innovated and demonstrated sustainable solutions including low/zero carbon housing design, rainwater harvesting, renewable energy generation, waste minimisation and innovative forms of land management, including No/low-till farming, permaculture and agroforestry.

LID has also shown a capacity to enhance local biodiversity and public access to local space, and to produce traffic movements far below the national average. This has been attributed to lift-sharing, to residents' greater use of public transport, walking and cycling and to the integration of local land based employment with other household activities.{{cite web|title=Annual Monitoring Report For Tir y Gafel Ecovillage: August 2009 – January 2011|url=http://lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/TiryGafelAnnualMonitoringReport2010.pdf|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Lammas|year=2010}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} As the Welsh Assembly Government has noted, such "...Development therefore is not just describing a physical development. It is describing a way of living differently where there is a symbiotic relationship between people and land, making a reduction in environmental impacts possible".{{cite web|title=Welsh Government's One Planet Development policy Development Practice Guidance|url=https://infoecovillagewales.wordpress.com/welsh-planning/|access-date=7 March 2013|date=October 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410100851/https://infoecovillagewales.wordpress.com/welsh-planning/|archive-date=10 April 2013|url-status=dead}}

Constraints

Over the years, there have been various struggles with planning authorities over LID in the UK. Tony Wrench spent over a decade fighting the planning authorities until he was granted planning permission for That Roundhouse.{{cite news|title=Roundhouse approved after decade|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7616775.stm|access-date=6 March 2013|publisher=BBC News|date=15 September 2008}}{{cite news|title=10-year Pembrokeshire eco-battle ends|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/09/15/10-year-pembrokeshire-eco-battle-ends-91466-21822626/|access-date=6 March 2013|newspaper=WalesOnline|date=15 September 2008}}{{cite news|last=Barkham|first=Patrick|title=Round the houses|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/25/ethicalliving.greenbuilding|access-date=6 March 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 September 2008}} As Lisa Lewinsohn points out in her MSc thesis on LID, Tony Wrench and his partner Jane Faith have been "enforced against, fined, refused planning permission several times" while Lammas has "probably spent about £50,000 on the application process." Similarly, since 1986 Tir Penrhos Isaf has tried several times to get planning permission{{cite web|last=Dixon|first=Chris|title=Planning History at Tir Penrhos Isaf|url=http://www.konsk.co.uk/planning/plan1.htm|access-date=7 March 2013}} and only succeeded in December 2006, twenty years after their first planning application was submitted.{{cite web|last=Dixon|first=Chris|title=Planning latest at Tir Penrhos Isaf|url=http://www.konsk.co.uk/planning/2006perm.htm|access-date=7 March 2013|date=October 2009}}

The residents of Tir Penrhos Isaf consider: {{blockquote|"that current planning and building legislation represent some of the greatest obstacles to developing sustainable systems in Britain. The legislation favours those who already have land and property, actively encourages the squandering of resources and environmental degradation and actively discourages movements towards low impact, sustainable development."}}

Government policy

The extensive research interest in LID, backed up by the practical examples of the existing LIDs, has led to a growing number of planning policies in the UK designed to allow for LIDs.{{cite book|last=Fairlie|first=Simon|title=Low Impact Development: Planning and People in a Sustainable Countryside|year=2009|publisher=Jon Carpenter Publishing|url=http://www.permaculture.co.uk/book-reviews/low-impact-development-planning-people-sustainable-countryside|access-date=7 March 2013}}

{{cite web|title=Supplementary Planning Guidance: Low Impact Development – Making a Positive Contribution|url=http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/objview.asp?Language=&object_id=4177|access-date=7 March 2013|author=Pembrokeshire County Council|date=June 2006}} and the Welsh Assembly Government's One Planet Development policy (OPD){{cite web|title=Technical Advice Note 6: Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities – Section 4.15 One Planet Development|url=http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/OnePlanetDevelopment.pdf|access-date=6 March 2013|author=Welsh Assembly Government|date=July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134202/http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/OnePlanetDevelopment.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Technical Advice Note 6 – Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities (2010)|url=http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/tans/tan6/?lang=en|access-date=6 March 2013|author=Welsh Government|date=January 2011}} which is supported by the independent One Planet Council.{{cite web|title=One Planet Council|url=http://www.oneplanetcouncil.org.uk/|access-date=7 March 2015}} The first development to receive permanent planning permission under the One Planet scheme was Nant-y-Cwm, near Caerphilly.{{cite web|title=One Planet Council: Nant-y-Cwm - a first for Wales|url=http://www.oneplanetcouncil.org.uk/press-release-for-nant-y-cwm-farm/|access-date=7 March 2015}} The criteria for OPD in Wales include the requirement that 65% of all subsistence, or 30% of food and 35% of livelihood, come from the land.{{cite news|publisher=Wales Online|date=14 May 2015|title=Owners of Pembrokeshire's threatened hobbit house plan one final throw of the dice to save their home|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/owners-pembrokeshires-threatened-hobbit-house-9258433|access-date=15 May 2015}}

References

External links

=Low-impact developments=

[http://landmatters.org.uk/ The Landmatters co-operative, Devon]
[http://www.lilac.coop/ LILAC – Low-Impact Living Affordable Community, Yorkshire]
[http://www.konsk.co.uk/ Tir Penrhos Isaf, Permaculture holding, Gwyedd, Wales]
[http://www.simondale.net/ Simon Dale's houses, Wales]
[http://www.stewardwood.org/index.ghtml Steward Community Woodland, Devon]
[http://www.caemabon.co.uk/ Cae Mabon, Eco Retreat Centre, Snowdonia]
[http://www.keveral.org/ Keveral Farm, Cornwall]
[http://www.downtoearthproject.org.uk/ Down to Earth, Gower]
[http://www.permaculture.org.uk/people-projects-places/land/centres/list LAND Centres, Permaculture Association] – a list of publicly accessible land-based Permaculture projects in the UK
[http://www.permaculture.org.uk/people-projects-places/land/centres/map A map of LAND Centres in the UK] – maintained by Permaculture Magazine

=Supporting organisations and resources=

[http://ecologicalland.coop/ The Ecological Land Co-operative – supporting and enabling low-impact development in the UK]
[http://www.lowimpact.org/ LILI – The Low Impact Living Initiative – a non-profit network of those involved with LID]
[http://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/090521susdev1wales1planeten.pdf One Wales : One Planet : The Sustainable Development Scheme of the Welsh Assembly Government]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150105193237/http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/Does_Welsh_National_Planning_Policy_effectively_address_Low_Impact_Development_in_the_open_c.pdf Does Welsh National Planning Policy effectively address Low Impact Development in the open countryside?] – Paper by Louise Kulbicki
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150105190429/http://www.lammas.org.uk/oldsite/lowimpact/documents/ThesisKarolinaRietzler2012.pdf The Role of Scientific Knowledge and Other knowledge Types in Grassroots Sustainability Initiatives: An Exploratory Case Study of a Low Impact Development Eco-village in Wales] – MSc thesis by Karolina Rietzler
[http://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/ The Land Magazine]
[http://www.permaculture.co.uk/ Permaculture Magazine]
[http://www.undercurrents.org/livinginthefuture.html Living in the Future] – 50-minute documentary film telling the story of the "UK's first planned ecoVillage, Lammas."
[http://www.livinginthefuture.org/ Living in the Future website] – A video series about Ecovillages – community and low impact living