Day 6

Our architect dropped in this morning. It was great to see him. He brought new elevations with the porch on the front door and balcony on the bedroom window. I can't wait to see the house built.

We talked about the strategy for the meeting on Thursday. Would it be useful for us to attend the meeting to show we are OK people and would prefer to start building rather than head back to Spain and forget the whole thing? Best to ask the advice of the ecovillage delegation.

When asked, the advice was that the meeting would not discuss our planning as the delegation does not represent us even though the issue directly affects our plans. The delegation will phone us to let us know the outcome of the meeting.

Our architect says leave it with him. And 'never give up'. Have faith.

We met another ecovillager who told us her story. For her apartment in a block of four, she endured a two-year delay because planning was refused the first time round. At this point she had already given up her  job, had rented accommodation nearby and was paying a mortgage. Hearing of our situation brought back how she felt when she heard her planning permission had been refused.

At the moment we seem to have an extension, meaning that the planning has not actually been refused. If that happens we would have to start all over again.

Ecocracking up?