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ROUNDHOUSE DEMOLITION PROTEST CAMP WALES

Kate | 02.04.2004 18:39 | Ecology | Oxford

If anyone from Oxford area wants to go this please get in touch with Kate - transport is needed/very welcomed!

The Land Is Ours and Chapter7 are orgasnising a Land Occupation and Low Impact Dwelling Convention in Pembrokeshire National Park

Easter Weekend 8 -13 April

TONY WRENCH¹S ROUNDHOUSE MUST NOT BE DEMOLISHED



Tony Wrench of Brithdir Mawr has been ordered to pull his turf-roofed roundhouse down by Pembrokeshire National Park Planning authority. After paying £1000 of fines, he is planning to take it down over Easter. His eco-house is a national treasure, a historic relic and an inspiration to thousands of other people. It must be preserved. Meanwhile, in a gobsmackingly blatant display of double standards, the Park¹s planning committee have given outline permission to Alfred McAlpine to erect 350 holiday chalets imported from Estonia and 60 holiday flats at his ³Bluestones² site in the Park. You are invited to join our Easter protest camp in the Park, to persuade Tony to change his mind and the planners to change their policies.



THIS WILL BE A GOOD-HUMOURED, FLUFFY EVENT < RADICAL ARCHITECTURAL THEATRE,
IN THE TRADITION OF ³PURE GENIUS², WANDSWORTH 1996



EVENTS WILL INCLUDE:
? Construction of another turf-roofed roundhouse in the National Park.
? The first Ideal Low Impact Home Exhibition.
? March with local people in a march to the gates of Brithdir Mawr (no
further), with signs saying ³TONY, PLEASE DON¹T DO IT,² musical incantations
and magic spells designed to incapacitate reluctant demolition workers.
Saturday 10 April.
? Join local people in a protest at the Planning Offices at Haverfordwest on
Tuesday 13 April.
? Actions to expose and ridicule the Bluestones site.
? A collection to help Tony and the folks at Brithdir Mawr pay off any
future fines, which we will present to Tony on Saturday.
? Talks, discussions, workshops, music, and a holiday atmosphere.



Planning Hypocrisy


REFUSED: Tony Wrench¹s turf-roofed ecohouse on the farm where he and his
partner Jane Faith tend woodlands, keep goats and grow vegetables. The house
was only discovered after two years when a survey plane spotted the
reflection of a solar panel. Recently, 30,000 people e-mailed BBC¹s Open
Country to say that it should not be demolished.
ALLOWED: The Bluestones enclave of 340 imported wooden chalets, plus a
³traditional² village of 60 studio flats, only accessible to paying guests.
The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales have described it as a ³new
settlement of up to 2000 residents and 5,000 day visitors . . . The
permanent dwellings would take up nearly all of one year¹s allocation for
new housing in the Park² .



A CAMP WILL BE SET UP AT AN AS YET UNDISCLOSED LOCATION IN THE PEMBROKESHIRE
COAST NATIONAL PARK
(NOT ON BRITHDIR MAWR LAND).



The folks at nearby Glaneirw housing co-op have generously allowed us to use
their land as an assembly point, before we move onto one of a number of
suitable sites we have identified in the Park. There is a field to park and
camp in and a large room we can use for meetings. Please arrive on Thursday
afternoon/ evening, if possible before 8 pm, or else on Friday morning. If
you arrive late, directions will be left at Glaneirw; if you plan to come
later, you can phone any of the numbers below to find out where we are.
Glaneirw is about 6 miles north-east of Cardigan, on the A 478, between
Blaenporth and Tan-y-Groes. If you are coming from Cardigan, it is on the
right, 100 yards before the junction with the B4333 going to Newcastle Emlyn
(the north-easternmost junction; beware! the B4333 crosses the A 478 twice).
If you need information about public transport, or any other matter, please
give us a ring.


IDEAL LOW IMPACT HOME EXPO


One of the objects of this gathering is to show that, in the face of soaring
house prices, many of us are capable of housing ourselves cheaply and
sustainably, provided there is access to land and planning permission.
Obviously there are limits to what can be erected overnight or in a couple
of days; but if you can bring and erect a temporary low impact structure
however small or big, please do. Yurts, tipis, domes, benders, painted
pig-arks etc are all welcome; if you haven¹t anything else, you will at
least
need to bring a nylon tent.
Please do not expect to dig up the National Park for turf, or dismember its
trees for timber. You may have to lug everything 100 yards or so on foot. If
you want to know where to get hold of materials nearby (eg straw bales, turf
etc), or have any good ideas or problems, give us a ring, we may be able to
help.
As at Wandsworth, we intend to make this site open to the public to visit.
Do bring photos and display boards of anything you have built or created
elsewhere.



COME PREPARED < PLEASE BRING:


? banner making material, paints, decorative effects ? acoustic musical
instruments
? cooking equipment, water container and good supplies of food and drink (we
will provide a communal kitchen area, but it is Easter and you could be some
way from a supermarket)
? warm clothes and boots; ? torches or lamps.



MOST OF ALL PLEASE BRING YOURSELVES <
THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO LET PLANNERS KNOW THAT WE WILL NO LONGER
TOLERATE THEIR MISGUIDED POLICIES.

If you are planning to come it will help if you phone us in advance, so we
can estimate numbers. And if you want any further information, please give
us a ring (if no reply, leave your number) on
01460 249204, 07786 952037, 07855 350164, 0117 373 0346
Address: C7, The Potato Store, Flaxdrayton Farm, South Petherton, Somerset,
TA13 5LR



Kate

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