Good Friday

Warm and sunny. Weeded the herb bed. Quite a job digging out as much of the couch grass as we could. The marjoram, chives and sage are doing well and there is a tiny rosemary. Sowed rocket, coriander, fennel, lettuce and parsley in the gaps between the herbs.

The children next door enjoyed a water fight and Rodney said there were kids in the stream too. Lunch outside then a walk in Knockanacree Wood. Back through the allotments, family at work mowing the paths and preparing their plot -  coming away with wonderful rhubarb.

The news of the meeting with the council yesterday seems not to move us any further forward. The Cloughjordan sewage plant is in breach (blacklisted) and the council is not therefore in a position to grant any planning at all. Irish Water and the Environment Protection Agency are now part of the scenario. The ecovillage sewage plant is now operating properly and the discharge is equivalent to discharge from just one house. What has to be done though is to apply for a discharge licence (providing the council with test results), apply for a sewer connection and renew the temporary planning for the sewage plant which seems to have expired and not been renewed.

We meet with our architect Liam on Monday. Liam is as always very positive (there's always a chance) and we'll  arrange for us all to meet with the planner when she returns from Easter holidays. The extension of our planning application expires 16 May and it seems it cannot be extended again. Would it be possible to grant planning conditional on connecting to the ecovillage system until a discharge licence has been granted? Would it be possible to put in a septic tank, compost toilets? So many unknowns and the planner's hands may be tied by all the other parties involved. If the planning is refused what then? Perhaps return to Spain until all is resolved.

Meantime, this evening there is a community meal followed by 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Rodney, making the most of cooking facilities and ingredients, knocked up some Madhur Jaffrey lentils and spinach).