Green home given red light

An eco home in Norfolk has been given the thumbs down after council officials say the environmentally-friendly house would be out of keeping with the surrounding area.

Jeni Arnold and John Wharton have been refused permission to build their innovative house on a local field near Hempnall in Norfolk, as council officers claim the plans go against national policies regarding development in the countryside and the roads and infrastructure around the site are not good enough.

David Edleston, the council''s conservation and design architect, told the Norwich Evening News: "While the intention of creating a building which is sustainable in terms of its construction and use of materials is commendable, I do not consider the proposed solution to be of sufficient architectural merit to justify a departure from policy."

However, the couple claim that the house, which is to be built using entirely green methods, such as obtaining clay from the field to make the plaster and utilising a reed bed sewage system, would use far less energy and produce less carbon emissions than other houses in the area.


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