Our first members' meeting

What is discussed in a members' meeting is confidential. It is interesting though to reflect on our first experience of one of these meetings, which are held monthly.

There was an agenda, each item allotted a time and for most, but not all the items, who would speak to it. It seemed quite a business like approach, and the facilitator did keep members to time. Surprisingly, given the restructuring and cash flow situation, there was no item on the sustainable financing of the project, including of key services to members living in the ecovillage. A 'friends' scheme was launched, which seems to relate the the sustainable financing issue (for the charitable work) for which brochures had been printed. Each member present was given four to distribute. At present there does not seem to be a business plan for the friends scheme - how much the scheme hopes to raise, by when, schedule for communications with friends, newsletter and so on.The issue of sustainable financing of services to ecovillage residents was not addressed.

Of the two and a half hour meeting, one and three quarter hours were devoted to a forum on community and commitment. The ecovillage is hugely confusing to newcomers - what is the community, what are people committing to when they become members - you have to be a member to build a house and live in the eco village. There's the educational charity that trades under SPIL. But SPIL also owns unsold sites in the ecovillage, although proceeds from the sales of these have to go to pay off loans from investors and banks. How VERT (Village Education Research and Training) run by Cultivate (a practical sustainability organisation based in the village and Dublin) relates to SPIL operationally and financially is not very clear to us. There is also the SPIL service company which has separate board and provides services to residents such as the district heating. The project when launched in the days of the Celtic tiger was designed to sell sites to people who could afford to build. Because of the economic crash, that didn't happen - and now the village is still only half built. With way fewer people than anticipated, the project isn't working as the founders envisaged and seems to be finding it hard to adjust to the changed circumstances.

The discussion on community and commitment aired the diversity of views. There was also a fair amount of frustration at not dealing with urgent issues. The promising business-like agenda did not deliver a clear list of actions to be taken to move forward. Two and a half hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon could maybe be spent more productively.

Planning permission refused

The reason given for not granting the planning permission was:

"The proposed development is premature due to a lack of capacity in the Cloughjordan sewage plant and the pending upgrading of the plant. Notwithstanding the fact that the on-site waste water treatment plant has been commissioned on site, and given the existing capacity of the Cloughjordan sewage scheme, it is considered that the residential development cannot be served by the on-site effluent treatment facility prior to its certification. Therefore, to grant permission for development would be prejudicial to public health."

What needs to be done is:
1. Get the waste treatment plant approved (continue the operational work and sampling the discharge from the plant)
2. Apply for planning permission for the waste treatment plant
3. Apply for a discharge licence
4. Apply to connect to the public main - it is connected and the connection was supervised by the County Council but the ecovillage never put in a formal application to do this.

At the moment, who will take these steps forward and when they may be completed is not clear.

The council's view is that ...as a result of the current situation they are unable to grant further connections to the sewer network in Cloughjordan until the matter is fully resolved or unless the applicants are able to demonstrate alternative treatment methods for individual sites that are acceptable to the Planning Authority.

We are wondering if a septic tank could be an alternative solution. 

 

Recap - the story so far

We arrived by ferry at Rosslare in Ireland in early April after driving from Salobrena to Cherbourg. What we discovered soon after we had settled into the house in the eco village was that our planning permission had been given a two month extension; so now we would not have a decision until 16 May.

We have had quite a time fnding out why. It appears to have arisen from a number of reasons but the dominant one was that the Cloughjordan sewage system was severely overloaded and the quality of the treated effluent into the river was unacceptable. Not unsurprisingly the Environment Agency and Irish Water were extremely concerned about the situation; the Environment Agency had gone so far as to blacklist North Tipperary County Council (NTCC) for this. The response of NTCC was to say that no more planning permissions would be issued in this area until the problem was solved.

For us the annoying thing was that the eco village seems to have known about this since October 2013 when the Planning Department approved the last application. But nothing was done about it.

The eco village has its own treatment plant, which was installed but has not been operating. All the sewage from the houses in the eco village was simply passing through this plant and pumped on to the Cloughjordan one where it was treated. If it had been working this would have taken 50+ houses off  the Cloughjordan sewage plant and relieved pressure on it.

Once we had arrived action started to be taken in response to our distress. The eco village plant was started up and seeded with sludge from the Cloughjordan one. That took nearly four weeks to achieve. If we were thinking that that would be OK and our permission would be forthcoming we were soon disabused of this. The water department of NTCC then said they wanted 6 months of data to assure themselves that the plant was working properly.

A meeting between council members and eco village representatives to discuss this rather took the form of a finger pointing exercise rather than looking at ways in which the two could work together to solve the problem. It wasn't just our planning permission that was at stake it was permission for 17 chalets for a local cookery school and any other residential plans for the area.

What eventually was decided at the meeting was that planning permission for the sewage treatment plant in the eco village, which had lapsed, had to be renewed and that some other paperwork had to be provided.

We have been discussing our situation with a variety of people to see how to resolve the situation. Among those we have been talking to have been an existing councillor who is retiring this year and another councillor who is seeking re-election. We have been asking them to suggest that we be granted permission with a condition that we cannot connect to the sewer system until it has been approved by NTCC. Building the house will take six to eight months and we would not be able to start until 16 June, making a total of nine months before we would be looking for a connection. This would be plenty of time in which to provide test results to show that the eco village system is functioning properly. Preliminary tests of this system are indicating that it is working extremely well. We think however that there is a degree of bad blood between NTCC and Sustainable Projects Ireland Limited (SPIL) the body responsible for the eco village.

Yesterday, we learnt from the councillor that the planning officer 'is likely to refuse' our permission. That of course is not final until the decision is published. If it is refused it means that we would have to wait six months before applying again. Then there would be two months for the planning permission and a further month for objections. So we would have a nine month wait and still no assurance that permission would be granted. Meantime, we have paid a deposit to buy our site but will not complete the purchase until permission is granted.

That in a nutshell is where things stand at the moment. Everyone in eco village sympathises with us, but that doesn't help us move forward. Our architect has been away in Germany for a couple of weeks on a course (he is back this weekend) so he has not been able to be as active in the matter as we would like. The councillor is still working on the problem (he'd like our votes - the council and EU elections are happening this month).

The other major complication is that North and South Tipperary, which currently have separate councils, are to be merged. So it seems all council employees are covering their backs and trying to demonstrate that they are upholding all the rules and regulations in an effort to hold onto their jobs.

So at present we are in limbo and won't know which way to move until 16 May - decision day. If the decision is against us then we have no choice but to return to Spain. In all probability we will spend the summer in Stavanger, Norway where C&T have an apartment where we could stay while we sort ourselves out. Apparently there is some good walking in the region so we would not be bored.

If planning is granted we will need to reorganise our accommodation. We were told the house we are renting was spartan, but that was rather an understatement. While it is very convenient because it is in the eco village itself and would make checking on construction of our new home very straightforward, it is not working too well for us at the moment. The interior is incomplete. While the upstairs is carpeted the downstairs is still the plywood sub flooring. There are no kitchen cupboards. There is a worktop (higher than normal) but no kitchen cupboards. There is a sink, stove, dishwasher and a fridge/freezer, but no laundry facilities. This latter is a particular problem. There is a shop which takes in your laundry and washes and dries it for you, but it costs and arm and a leg. So far we have managed because the owner of the hostel in the eco village has very kindly allowed us to do our laundry using his facilities. The house is very short on furniture – our bed is a futon on the floor and there is only one table in the house suitable for working and eating at.

 

All that said, the people are delightful, we love all the eco village has to offer, the surrounding countryside and exploring further afield. The eco village itself as a sustainable community has a long, long way to go - in the way it operates socially and financially. It would be interesting to be part of it. 

Eco curve balls - it's not looking good

The latest, this morning was a call from one of the councilors. He had talked to the planner and learned that she was 'not intending' to grant planning permission. His next step was to 'talk to Water' - the authorities dealing with water and sewage. Whether or not that will make a difference remains to be seen.

Things are not looking good. We are checking ferry schedules for returning to Spain. Maybe Stavanger June-July?

D(ecision)-Day 16 May

Yesterday we took our voter registration forms to first the Garda and then the Tipperary council offices in Nenagh. While in the council offices I noticed a desk for planning inquiries. So, we inquired. We'd been told that our application was incomplete. What was still missing and what should we provide? The incomplete apparently referred to the initial application in December when the site notice blew down in the gales. The current application, lodged for a second time in January is OK - complete. The application is on the planner's desk and will be decided by 16 May. Fingers crossed.

In the evening we went to a presentation on the ecovillage rescue plan, the plan to keep the village solvent. Without it, money to operate would run out. The village is first and foremost an educational charity. Unfortunately the website (www.cloughjordan.ie/ecovillage/) does not market it as such 'The ecovillage in is a new sustainable development of 114 homes and 16 live/work units closely integrated into the town of Cloughjordan.' In the community there is tension between  'ecovillage development' and charitable education. Everyone commits to 100 hours a year of voluntary work. But at present it seems voluntary work is unfocused - people can volunteer to do what they like doing, rather than committing to carry out tasks in a focused plan to carry the educational charity forward. This means that village and charitable work that needs to be done falls through the cracks. The conversation continues.  

Pass on scything the grass

With Spring well underway - our first hearing of the cuckoo this year yesterday on the Kilcommon Pilgrim Loop and swifts swooping as we sat drinking our coffee and eating our hot cross buns on returning to the car at the end of the walk -  the grass in the garden of the house we are renting is growing by the day. Our neighbours on either side have scythed their grass - but the scythe is daunting and we're sure needs a certain technique that needs to be acquired but seems a bit 'too hard' right now. The house does not come with a mower so maybe the garden is going to be a wild meadow this year.

So the fairly newly planted trees - one hazel, two birches (?) and two unidentified - don't get smothered in this wild meadow garden, we weeded round them, laid newspaper and covered the newspaper with wood chippings - a pile unearthed from under a rampant thicket of thistles. (Method found on the internet when searching for 'uses of newspaper in an organic garden'.) One weekend Telegraph is a lot of newspaper. Then we tackled the blackcurrants that had been planted in the common strip alongside where our house might be built. Encroaching couch grass wasn't giving them much of a chance but clearing it from around the young bushes was a struggle. Five bushes done so far, eight to go (when our backs recover) on that particular common strip.

The young apple trees around the village and in the 'save the varieties' orchard are a mass of blossom. Will it be a good year for apples? The fruit set on the blackcurrants is promising. Yesterday on the Kilcommon Pilgrim Loop we marvelled at the bilberries. We'll have to go back in July. (Wikipedia: In Ireland, the fruit is known as fraughan, from the Irish fraochán, and is traditionally gathered on the last Sunday in July, known as "Fraughan Sunday".) The fruit are tiny and delicate so may take a while to pick.

While we are waiting

While we are waiting we have heard many stories of planning woes experienced by eco-villagers. Whether or not eco-villagers have had more issues that concerned the planner than others, who knows. Meantime, the councillor has spoken to the planner, now returned from holiday. The possibility of putting in a septic tank has been floated. Rodney has texted the area of the plot - approximately 0.1 hectares (sites 38 and 39) - and the area of the footprint of the house - approximately 120 square metres. Is this sufficient for a septic tank? What will be the outcomes of conversations in the council corridors?

What is also interesting is that the Tipperary local council and EU elections are coming up. Electioneers knocking at the door find that we are not yet resident in the village and that leads to questions about why we're here, and the whole planning story. Candidates for the council are seeking details. We are hoping their interest and any kind of involvement that follows is not going to muddy the waters or lead the planner into feeling pressured in any way. What has also happened is that planning permission for a property adjoining the ecovillage has just been granted. Is this a good sign? Are the council now not so concerned about overloading the Cloughjordan sewage plant now that the ecovillage plant is working and the discharge tested over the last three weeks is clean? If not, the suggestion (in jest?) was to call the 'race card' if permission is refused - that a local had been granted permission but foreigners not. Very strange thought. The two cases are not quite the same, the local asked for planning permission for a renovation and extension (to an albeit currently unoccupied property) whereas our request for permission is for a new build. Roll on 16 May when we hope for a decision one way or another. (I have been looking for properties for sale in Devon.)

Not being too good at waiting, we've taken the time to do some walking and exploring - to the south, the Silvermine Mountains, to the west the Burren and Cliffs of Moher, and to the north, Fairymount, Birr and Kinnitty. There is much to enjoy. The trees coming into leaf, violets, primroses, cowslips abound. Drifts of bluebells in the woods. And the ecovillage people - all keeping their fingers crossed for us. And given freedom to help ourselves to a gardener's abundance of allotment rhubarb.

Doolin Pier (boats for the Aran Islands), Galway

 View from Fairymount, North Tipperary

 Pilgrim Loop, Kilcommon, Tipperary

 Cliffs of Moher, Galway

 Knockanree Wood Loop, Silvermine Mountains, Tipperary

 Lehinch, Galway

 Bluebells, Kinnitty-Glinsk Castle Loop, Offaly

 Birr Castle Demense, hornbeam cloister, Offaly

 Lough Derg Way near Dromineer, Tipperary

 Ecovillage impromptu community dinner Easter Monday