Subject: Land-use struggles

From: [email-masked] (Rob Squires/Gill Ellison)
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 12:36:27 +0100

"In 1995, the Tinker's Bubble Trust, a group of 11 people living in tents on
their smallholding in Somerset [United Kingdom], appealed against refusal of
planning permission for their dwellings. One of their main arguments was
that they needed to live on their land to pursue their chosen method of
agriculture, which was influenced by (among other things)the philosophy of
sustainable land-use, known as permaculture.

The Inspector spent two days at a Public Enquiry in the local village hall
examining the project and listening to local opinion, and three hours
looking round the Tinker's Bubble site. His conclusions were that the Trust
did have a need to live on the land and since their dwellings caused no
visual or highways impact, he saw no reason to refuse planning permission.

However, the Inspector's decision was immediately overturned by the
Secratary of State, John Gummer [Conservative] (who had never been anywhere
near the site). The main reason he gave for refusing planning permission was
that the Bubblers were subsistence farmers, "...carrying out an experiment
in living simply on the land and deriving a subsistence living from it, a
pattern of living which is sometimes called 'permaculture'. Any benefit of
these aims to the wider economy would be negligible, since minimal
agricultural and other produce would be available." ..."

- Extract of article in British Permaculture Magazine No.12 (Summer 1996)

The article continues by explaining how Gummer is quite wrong in that
Permaculture is not subsistance agriculture, and that the Tinker's Bubble
project is compatible with sustainable development, and the objectives of
Agenda 21 which can be defined as "... not consuming more than one's share
of the world's resources...". Furthermore, there is ample evidence to prove
that Tinkers Bubble is not, in fact practicing subsistence agriculture at
all, since last Autumn, the Trust exported a cash crop of some 15 tonnes of
apples to the local cider industry.  Gummer has set a precedent in British
planning law (excluding Scotland) which may have serious ramifications for
future British permaculturists seeking planning permission for integrated
rural land-use.

In a letter to the British Secretary of State, Bill Mollison wrote, "...As
originator of the term permaculture, I would like to make it clear that the
word Permaculture is a copyright term, and it's definition is not available
for re-interpretation by the High Court or anyone else... Permaculture ...
is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive
ecosystems, which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural
ecosystems..." 
 
For more information on the original article published in the British
Permaculture Magazine, contact Tim and Maddy Harland
<[email-masked]>. The magazine is published by Permanent
Publications who have a Web Site at http://www.uea.ac.uk/~e415/home.html.

This rescent decision by our gloriously mistaken leader, and steward of the
environment, John Gummer bares serious implications for the permaculture
movement in the UK. Permaculture is practised worldwide by over 20,000
graduates of design courses. No matter which part of the planet you inhabit,
please unite with British brothers and sisters in this global movement, and
support our course by writing to John Gummer, stating that he is wrong, and
that you feel very concerned about the effect this could have, and why you
feel permaculture is so important.

Send your letters to:

Rt Hon John Gummer MP,
Secretary of State for the Environment,
Houses of Parliment, 
Westminster,
London. U.K.

Unfortunately, an E:mail address is not available.

Please pass on this post wherever you feel it may be helpful.

Yours, in solidarity,

Rob Squires  
                           
 Rob Squires of CTCSystems | http://www.u-net.com/~yesyou
 Communitarianist          | E:mail - [email-masked]
 ========================= + ===========================================
 Gill Ellison              | http://www.connect.org.uk/merseyworld/ACSH/
 Age Concern - St.Helens   | E:mail [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Olafur Brentmar)
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 09:57:11 -0700

Dear Tinker Bubblers !

We read with curiosity about your struggles and must share our own
experience,  along the same lines but with a different twist. We are
located in southwestern Oregon, where strict land use laws have been in
effect since 1973. A primary goal of these laws is to save farmland and
increase agricultural production. All development on farmland is
prohibited; even permits for farmhouses are tightly controlled.

Peace Garden Institute (PGI), was incorporated in 1982 with the principle
that diversified organic agricultural and forest land management,
integrated with small-scale cottage industries, will create and sustain a
viable economy while engaging in constructive ecological solutions. Seeing
the demise of the timber industry we were convinced that agriculture with
value-added processing of farm crops would create a stronger and more
sustainable rural economy.

In 1995, our organization, PGI, a non profit school of horticulture &
sustainable living applied for a special use permit to establish a small
residental school.We argued to provide education in the full cycle of
agricultutre (from seed to table to compost to seedling again), both
instructors and apprentices needed to live on the farm. We also requested a
licensed food kitchen to process the food produced on the farm. According
to the local county officials,  the loss of 1/4 acre of farmland for
facilities (dormatories, processing kitchen, library, and class rooms) out
of the total 156 acre farm could not be justified. The agricultural
profitablitiy of our proposed farm/school management plan was ten fold over
current use, and yet we were denied the permit.

In a Kafkian trial, the local land use laws were used as social engineering
tools to legitimize bigotry. Most of the testimony against us revolved
around unfounded fears and suspicions about our connections to a
"counter-culture lifestyle".  After months of hearings with neighbors and
government officials, the application was denied for 17 different reasons,
none of which were valid. 

We appealed the denial and spent three years in court litigation. In August
1995, Oregon Supreme Court ruled in our favor. The high court declared that
establishment of schools and churches are a 'use of right' and not subject
to regulation from local governments.

In an unprecedented move, our local county government has refused to
recognize the Supreme Court ruling. We are left with little option but to
take them to court again. All this litigation is moving at a snails' pace,
and our landlord wants to sell the property. We had intended to purchase
the farm when we leased here 4 years ago, with income generated from the
farm and school. Since we have been hanging in legal limbo, without a
clearance for a permit, grants for the school have been left on hold. 

We now stand to lose the property and are left with only the legal fees.
The last leg of the litigation is about to come to court in the next month
or so.

In many ways, we see sustainable agriculture programs and permaculture as a
natural and constructive backlash to the 'green revolutions' large
industrial approach. The rights of people to live on the land, with the
land and from the land should not be denied. In this country, this idea is
counter to the interests of big agri- business. There is also great public
misconception of the socio-economic benefits of sustainable communal
living. "Communes" here are portrayed as places for religious fanatics,
Communists', vegetarian freaks or Charles Mason murdering-types or more
recently heavily armed militia groups. There is little room for agrarian
communalists in a society so filled with such fears.

Being thus stuck in the web of land use laws and the politics of social
engineering we want to express our support for your endeavor as we seek to
bring constructive sanity to all our lives. We would like to further
collaborate in our common struggle to open the doors of perception so that
other sustainable agricultural projects can sprout and grow without
interference.

Peace is grown
Olafur Brentmar

        -------------------------------------------------------
                        Peace Garden Institute
           School of Horticulture and Sustainable Living
        1380 Hamilton Rd.   Jacksonville, Oregon 97530  USA
phone 541 899 1704;      fax 541 899 3904           [email-masked]