Management Plan for a One Planet Development on Fields Formally Part of Rhyd Gorwen Farm, Hebron James and Clare Adamson, Summer 2017

Management Plan for a One Planet Development on fields formally part of Rhyd Gorwen Farm, Hebron James and Clare Adamson, Summer 2017

CONTENTS Page no. 1. Introduction & Summary 3 2. Baseline 4 3. Design Strategy 8 4. Business and Improvement Plan 17 4.1. Land Based Activity 17 4.2. Land Management 42 4.3. Energy & Water 47 4.4. Waste 55 5. Zero Carbon Buildings 58 6. Community Impact 64

7. Transport Assessment and Travel Plan 67

8. Phasing, Monitoring and Exit Strategy 73 9. Ecological Footprint Analysis 75 10. Appendices 10.1. Enterprise: cost/forecast spreadsheets x 5 10.2. Ecological Footprint: data entry sheet and breakdown of results 10.3. Ecological Survey report 10.4. Site Layout Design 10.5. Soil Analysis report 10.6. Scaled drawings of buildings: dwelling, wood store, coldstore, workshop, polytunnels, cow barn (existing and proposed extension), processing barn 10.7. Letter of support 10.8. Visual Impact Report 10.9. Highways Report 10.10. Block Plan 10.11. Crop Charts: Tree Bush crops, Veg. Production, Perennial Crops 10.12. LANDMAP reports 10.13. Soil Association Organic Certificate 10.14. Energy Efficiency Assessment of Dwelling Construction Materials 10.15. Detailed Site Plan 10.16. Location plan

2 1. INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY

Introduction This is an application for a low impact development under the Welsh Assemblies planning policy TAN6, One Planet Development. It has been compiled and written by Clare and James Adamson, with support from professionals including Paddy Jenks of Aderyn Ecology, Karl von Weber of LVW Highways and Martin Crawford of Agroforestry Research Trust.

Clare, James and their 5-year old son, Dara, are currently live in North Devon. Clare works as a communications consultant for the voluntary sector and James works as an estate worker. Clare has considerable experience producing food at a domestic scale and her main skill set and employment background is in project management, communications and marketing in the voluntary and private sector. She has specialised in solar energy, local food initiatives and community enterprise. James has worked in horticulture for many years having been a grower for a CSA enterprise, a community development worker for several land based projects and run a small landscaping business. Throughout this time he has also led training in food growing, Permaculture Design and Agroforestry.

In 2015 we traveled England and Wales visiting families and communities living a low impact, land based lifestyle having decided that it was something we aspired to do ourselves. We realised that the unique Welsh Planning framework offered a great way to live the way of life we feel is necessary. We have been drawn to One Planet Development as it provides an opportunity to live close to the earth and make a living from the land we live on. It’s also a great way to teach others about community scale solutions to some serious issues such as climate change, resource depletion, food sovereignty and environmental destruction.

Summary The low impact small holding will support a single dwelling with associated buildings for our family consisting of James and Clare Adamson and their son Dara. We will also site temporary accommodation to house our family during the initial phases of the development.

We will explain how through careful design and sensitive management we will meet most of our immediate needs (including food, drinking water and energy) directly from our holding and run an off-grid, horticultural business which will form our main occupation. The majority of our residential and commercial waste will be processed and assimilated on site and after the initial establishment phase of the development we will be producing significant amounts of produce for the benefits of the local and regional community.

In the management plan we outline clear explanations of how we will achieve the objectives of each element and how we have employed Permaculture to design our site plans, land based enterprises and management systems. In time we will meet and surpass goals of 1.88 global hectares per person.

3 2. BASELINE Location. We, James and Clare Adamson are the freehold owners of farmland located on the eastern edge of Hebron village and originally formed part of the Rhyd Gorwen farm, Carmarthenshire. Grid Reference: SN18362 27689.

Area and shape. The land we propose to evolve into a One Planet development covers 9.69 acres of land and is marked on the map below in yellow, with different fields numbered.

The land is on the south-east facing aspect of the bottom edge of the Taf valley, with the highest point being 110m above sea level (asl) and lowest point 88.5m asl. The land is undulating lowland hill terrain1 and comprises of three gently sloping fields of improved grassland1. All the land has been traditionally used for farming: cultivation and stock grazing1. Field 1. 1.2 acres. Used as horse paddock, for 16 years. The last 2 years the field has been reseeded for silage and continues with this use currently. Field 2. 4.46 acres. Used as horse paddock, for 16 years, with the last 2 years being managed for silage. This field currently remains as grassland and is divided by an immature beech hedge. Field 3. 4.03 acres. Used as horse paddock, with the last two years cultivated for silage. This field currently remains as grassland.

View Field 1 is naturally sheltered from view from the South, East and North view due to mature hedge banks. The only vantage point is from the West, directly from the gated access off the council highway, and the houses on the s-western corner.

Fields 2 & 3 are naturally sheltered from view due to mature hedge banks, on all boundaries, with the only direct view onto the land being the elevated view from across the opposite side of the valley, and from the gate to the adjoining field.

1 Landmap http://landmap-maps.naturalresources.wales/

4 Additional land We also own small parcels to the east and west. This will not be developed and is not included in our One Planet application. This is outlined in the map below in pink and numbered accordingly.

4. This part will remain in silage production, to supply local farms. 5. This area of land sits alongside the Taf River and will remain a nature area.

Boundaries of land to be included in OPD Field 1. Mature hedge bank with large mature trees runs along all boundaries, except the south which is open to field cultivating grass for silage. Beyond the western hedge bank, a council highway runs the full length. Fields 2 & 3. Mature hedge banks with large mature trees run along the south, north, west and east sides. Context/adjacent land uses Mostly pasture fields surrounded by mature hedge banks with large native trees make up the adjacent land used which is used mostly for grazing livestock and hay/silage production. The only exception is the eastern boundary beyond which lies a river frontage field that is mostly scrub.

Tenure. We have purchased the land as freehold.

Existing on-site services. There is access to a small spring supply, which is permitted under easement from another farm (with permission in Land Deeds). A phone line runs across the northwest corner of Field 1.

Site access. We have permitted access via a gate on the northern eastern corner of Field 2, from an access track shared with Rhyd Gorwen Farm next door, which joins the council maintained road through Hebron. There is limited amount of traffic along this access track from the occupier of the farm and no regular existing transport generated by our site. There is a poorly maintained area of hard standing just inside our access gate, with space enough for parking and a turning circle, which extends in front of the existing barn all the way to the gate in the centre of this field (2), leading to Field 1. The Access to the rest of the site is limited to agricultural vehicles.

Access off highway Access lane

Existing features and landscape Field 2 has an existing barn constructed from concrete blocks, mostly rendered, with a slate tile roof, on a concrete pad. There is also one open sided field shelter constructed from timber and tin roof/sides.

Mature hedgerows surround the site, which have been identified as having rich biodiversity as part of the Ecological Survey (See appendices). There is a fence separating the two top fields, lined with a partial (young) beech tree hedge. The top fields and the steep field below are separated by unmanaged mature hedgerow.

6 Land Audit. This has been completed with the assistance of the LANDMAP resource managed by Natural Resource Wales.

Physical The land and the surrounding area is characterised as undulating lowland hill terrain with mainly Ordocicain slate mudrocks with significant glacial clay.

Soil Analysis Guideline Our soil Comment PH 6.5 6 Low Organic matter 3% 6.7% Adequate Phosphorus (ppm) 26 26 Low Potassium (ppm) 121 51 Low Magnesium (ppm) 176 54 Normal Calcium (ppm) 2000 1341 Deficient

See Appendix 10.5 for Soil Analysis document from Lancrop Laboratories.

Biodiversity An ecology report has been prepared by Aderyn Ecology and is included as Appendix 10.3. It shows the bulk of the site is species-poor semi-improved grassland and currently has low plant diversity with the hedgerows and banks being areas of ecological interest.

Cultural The area is classed as Rural, with its principle cultural activity being agriculture. There are no known sites of cultural importance on the site or in close proximity: this includes no scheduled monuments, world heritage sites, listed buildings, registered parks or gardens, registered battlefields or conservation areas.

Historic Landscape The historic landscape is classified as Medium Fields. The mature hedge banks on all boundaries of our site are of historical and cultural significance, and will be maintained accordingly. The hedge banks are comprised of mature trees creating a significant visual screen and shelter belt.

There is a Public Right of Way running along the whole of the northern edge of our land, which we will maintain.

Landscape Habitat Our land and the surrounding area is classified as Improved Grassland with the main activities being cultivation and stock grazing, and the areas that support biodiversity are the hedgerows and earth banks that they sit on. Please refer to our Ecology Report in Appendix 10.3.

The land does not sit within a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Beauty or Heritage coast.

7 3. DESIGN STRATEGY

“Ultimately, the only wealth that can sustain any community, economy or nation is derived from the photosynthetic process—green plants growing on regenerating soil.” - Allan Savory

Our design allows us to achieve the following objectives for our holding: • Provide full time land based employment for ourselves which will generate enough income to meet our basic income needs plus a modest surplus • Meet our basic food needs and our water, energy and fuel needs onsite • The main body of our domestic and business waste being processed and assimilated on site • To have a positive social and economic impact on our immediate community and the wider area • Be committed to a low impact life and join the other one-planet developments in bringing about broader change. We will directly contribute to this via dissemination of our experiences via online media, seasonal open days and occasional courses. • Develop a site which is not only bountiful but ecologically rich • Be adaptive to climate change and the social and ecological impacts this will create.

Design Methodology We have used Permaculture Design methodology to formulate a site plan and management system. We will use its principles and practices2 to influence the implementation and management of the system and its resources through to maturity. Throughout this process we have and will continue to be influenced by Permaculture ethics.3 We feel this complements the focus of One Planet Development (OPD) as it places the same value upon the wellbeing of people and communities as it does upon the health and stability of our ecosystems. Permaculture and OPD attempt to reduce our impact, limiting our consumption and ownership to what is achievable from our immediate land base and management approach. We aim to practice a regenerative approach to our resources where ecological diversity and productivity increase over time.

Water. Creating a low impact, dependable water system This formed the starting point of our design process. There is an existing spring supply to the holding, which we are informed is not reliable during the dryer months. We have decided to install a borehole for potable water supply powered by solar and for emergency irrigation use.

Our primary source of irrigation water will be rainwater harvested from our processing barn, stock building and polytunnels. So we will: • Install 4 large storage tanks at the top of the property to allow us to irrigate our protected growing areas, gardens and provide water to livestock, via gravity without the need for pumps. Where possible we will water our livestock with spring water stored in a header tank adjacent to our other tanks.

2 https://knowledgebase.permaculture.org.uk/principles 3 https://knowledgebase.permaculture.org.uk/ethics

8 • Harvest rainwater from our polytunnels and store in an adjacent pond, which will be pumped to the header tanks via a solar power pump. Rainwater will also be harvested from the roof of our home to provide water for the growing garden next to the house. • Install 3 large ponds, including one at the top of the site, which will each hold in excess of 50,000ltrs. These will largely support wildlife but will be an important water reserve should conditions necessitate. All ponds will be linked to allow for water flow through the site, with spillways for each pond flowing in to lower ponds using a fixed outlet pipe.

Fertility: Create a closed loop fertility system by year 5 We feel that a low impact lifestyle and livelihood requires a well thought out fertility management plan. We aim to have a closed loop fertility system by year 5 and will not need to import fertility from off site. We’ll achieve this in a number of ways. • Recycle all human and household waste • Move livestock and poultry regularly which builds soil organic matter quickly and distributes manure evenly • Stall milking cows at night to harvest the maximum manure • Many medicinal herbs require low-moderate fertility conditions • 20-30% of plants in our agroforestry areas will be fertility building plants such as Nitrogen fixing trees/shrubs, nutrient/ mineral accumulators, mulch plants. This will with very little effort, maintain a suitable level of fertility in these areas.4 Long fertility building leys in our gardens.

Visual Screening. Reducing visual impact of our development We have designed our site being mindful of the visual impact our development might have for our neighbours, and to design in features that reduce this impact. Barn Field Coppice: has been located to act as a screen in order to reduce visual impact of our home and polytunnels for houses on the road through the village.

• Our Dwelling and polytunnels: have been located lower in the landscape of our site to reduce visual impact from the road, and from across the valley • Our Dwelling and Processing barn will be constructed using natural materials, allowing them to blend in to the landscape • The Processing Barn has been located next to the existing barn behind a high hedge line and to form a cluster of buildings to reduce visual impact.

4 According to University of Minesota comfrey has NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus potassium) % of molecular weight of 3.7 – 1.21 – 8.43 and contains many other micro nutrients. http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/141442/MR191.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Cotswold seeds state in their customer info Red Clover can fix up to 250kg N/ Ha= 25gm2. Nitrogen fixing trees can fix between 100-200kg n/ha according reference: Martin Crawford, ‘Forest Gardening’

9 Agro- Forestry Approach Although we will grow lots of vegetables and some annual medicinal herbs the majority of our crops will be perennial and tree based. We have chosen several agroforestry approaches to create different tree based systems across the site. We will in time plant approximately 4800 trees and shrubs.

Coppice. To produce adequate firewood for cooking and space heating There will be 2 areas of mixed coppice of 6000m2 and 3800m2 plus a hedge bank 680m2 planted with high yielding Robinia managed specifically for fire wood on northern boundary. All will be managed on a 15yr rotation and supply us with adequate firewood for cooking and space heating. 20-30% will be Nitrogen fixing trees, such as Alnus spp, Robinia and Hippophae Salicifolia, chosen as support trees for the rest of the woodlot to enhance growth and form. Some of these nurse trees, especially Robinia, are excellent firewood in themselves. Although it is hard to calculate yield from hard wood coppice as variables, such as species, site, climate and rotation length, can dramatically affect results, the Small Woods Association website5 suggests that 3-10 tons per hct/yr is achievable over a 15yr rotation. We believe we can harvest towards the upper end of this scale from our 10,480m2 due to a good site/ aspect and good species choice/ combination. In addition to the provision of firewood, the coppice will be a haven for wildlife with numerous species of flora and fauna being associated with different phases of the harvesting rotation.

Alley Cropping - an integrated multi yield land use system We will have approximately 80 cider trees grown on vigorous rootstocks and planted on wide spacing. The cider will form our long-term livelihood but will take many 8-10 years to reach productive size with viable yield.

Whilst the cider trees grow and the orchard develops to a harvestable age we will make use of the space and sunlight between trees by planting 4m wide beds the length of the tree rows. We will cultivate many species of medicinal herb in these beds, which will form part of our income during the initial years.

5 http://smallwoods.org.uk/

10 We have intentionally under stocked the trees to allow more light to reach the herb crop and grassland: 30% tree cover over pasture has no impact on yield of grass.6

In addition to the cider trees we will also grow several species of nut trees in the alley cropping area. These will only be under planted with grazing species rather than medicinal plants, as we will keep the groundcover mown during harvest season to facilitate efficient harvesting of nuts, collected from the ground. Trees will be planted on contour and the alleys between tree rows will be rotationally grazed with our dairy cows followed by poultry. Cows will be contained in ‘cells’ of approximately 80m2 fenced with temporary electric fencing and moved regularly. They will not return to the same piece of grazing for nearly two months allowing land to rest and grass to regrow. This form of intensive management has multiple benefits both to the health of livestock, the health and diversity of the sward7. There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that well managed grassland (particularly using rotational and mob grazing) can sequester more carbon than mature woodland8. This part of the holding will form a major part of our land use, will be immensely productive (approx 7 tons of fruit, 2000+kg medicinal herbs, plus several tons of grass) and represent countless ecological benefits. Forest Garden. A biologically resilient, low maintenance high yielding garden Our modest sized forest garden (1000m2) has been designed using modern design principles popularized by Martin Crawford.9 Please see letter of support from Martin in Appendix 10.7.

The design aims of this part of the site will be to achieve:

• Biological resilience, withstanding dramatic changes in climate as well as intense seasonal fluctuations • Low maintenance once plantings have matured • Yield large amounts of fruit, culinary and medicinal herbs, teas, mushrooms and perennial vegetables for home consumption.

6 Richard Perkins of Ridgedale Permaculture, ‘Making Small Farms Work’ 7 https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/files/cotswoldseeds/Mob%20Grazing%20website.pdf 8 Meat, a benign extravegance, S Fairlie. 9 Martin Crawford is a national expert on Agroforestry having published several books on the subject and director of the Agroforestry Research Trust

These aims are achieved through careful design and high diversity of plant species numbering over 150.

Resilience is achieved through stocking the garden with perennial and woody plants having deep, established root systems and able to withstand drought and occasional inundation. Diversity allows for yields spread throughout the year with multiple crops. A hailstorm in June could damage soft fruit but top fruit and perennials would remain unaffected for example (A summer storm can prove fatal for the entire years worth of annual vegetables however).

Workload is also minimised via favouring perennials and trees/shrubs which once planted and established require minimal care, with cultivation and planting no longer being an annual occasion. Weeds are minimised through densely planted groundcovers and pests reduced by provision of predator habitat and forage. The need for irrigation is reduced with the use of living mulches and by retaining all organic matter within the system. This increases soil organic matter and water holding ability. Nitrogen fixing trees, dynamic accumulators and a healthy fungal community maintain fertility. All these factors mean the human hand is not required with the same intensity as other forms of land use.

Yields are diverse and high through stacking of species with different forms in combinations that support each other whilst minimizing competition. The garden will resemble immature woodland with wide spaced trees of varying heights, shrubs, climbers with herbaceous plants and groundcovers at their feet. All niches will be occupied by plants either of direct use to us or for wider benefit for the garden as a whole. Additional benefits of this form of land use include enhancement of biodiversity and the creation of a very beautiful place to be.

Permaculture Principle. Diversity A core principle of Permaculture and Organic Agriculture where value is placed on diversity and complexity as a way of maintaining health and stability. We estimate that by year 5 we will have established 350 species of plant, many of which will have some direct use to us. There are countless benefits to this amount of diversity. For example, in a report published by Dr. Stiles of Aberystwyth University it was concluded that higher species diversity in grassland had a positive effect on yield, biodiversity, soil carbon loss and soil structure.10

WET System. To process our residential grey water and convert it into fertility and unique & beneficial habitat We will process our grey water from the dwelling through a Wetland Ecological Treatment System.11 This will blend into the design of the forest garden and consist of a series of wide swales (contour ditches) with densely planted berms located down hill of each swale. WET Systems are modelled on wetland ecosystems and naturally

10 https://businesswales.gov.wales/farmingconnect/posts/can-increasing-plant-species-richness-grassland- maintain-yield-and-improve-soil-carbon-storage 11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastewater_treatment

12 purify waste water (in our case grey water) by filtering and metabolising organic nutrients by the action of the soil, microorganisms and their interaction with plants and fungi.

Permaculture Principle. Produce no waste In order to manage our available resources in a sustainable way we will retain all organic waste on site as fertility. We will also monitor the functionality of our management system to ensure there are no resource leaks.

Wetland trees (which transpire water out of the system) and marginal plants will be planted in the swales and on the berms and will form a unique habitat for countless species of insect and amphibious creatures. Willow will be an important species here as it transpires large amounts of water out of the system and provides a useful biomass crop, harvested annually, for kindling, craft materials and as a medicinal. It’s also a very important early nectar source for many species of bee. We will also grow biomass crops here for making composts. The nutrients/ water leaving our dwelling as a waste product will not only be retained onsite but converted into fertility, useful plants and habitat. Windbreaks/ Hedgerows. Creating windbreaks, visual screens, firewood and habitat We will plant 850m of new hedgerow/windbreak throughout the site. Wind will have a generally negative impact on all but the hardiest of plants and can reduce yield for most crops, especially tree crops, by a significant amount. According to the Agro- forestry Research Trust website yields from tree crops can increase by 25%, cattle milk production can increase by 8-20% and home heating costs can decrease by 30% if adequate protection from the wind is provided.

We will plant a grey alder windbreak along the entire southern boundary and when mature will provide shelter to the entire site from the dominant south- westerly winds. This will also serve as a visual screen. We will create a hedge bank along the entire northern boundary planted up with Robinia, which we can harvest on a 10 year cycle for firewood. This bank will run adjacent to the current bank and form an attractive lane, which people wanting to walk along the Public Right of Way can use to get to the river.

The bank on both sides will be reseeded upon creation with native perennial flowers. This feature will form a microclimate along its south facing side where we can grow fruiting plants that require some heat to ripen. A thick multispecies hedgerow will be planted across the site to further protect the alley crops and dwelling from westerly and northerly winds. This will be inter-planted amongst the existing immature beech hedge and consist of species that can produce fruit for birds and firewood to warm our home.

We will install a largely south facing hedge bank surrounding our main produce garden and polytunnels that will provide habitat, some fruit, a visual screen and more favourable growing conditions inside the garden. In spring our hedges will be full of blossom and wildflowers provide important habitat for small mammals and insects. They will play a vital part in creating a highly productive site.

13 In addition to our tree based systems we will also have several other elements to the holding.

Garden /Protected growing. Our main produce gardens. Our main growing area of 1225m2 will be located at the lower part of the holding where the soil is deeper and where we can take advantage of the greatest water pressure from tanks located at the top of the site. The garden will be enclosed by hedge banks and will be laid out in a bed system, growing perennial and annual herbs for tincture making and field vegetables for home consumption.

The perennials will be grown on permanent beds requiring no tillage. The annual herbs and vegetables will be rotated together allowing for a very long rotation, minimising pest and disease problems.

We will have long fertility breaks where two-year green manures including red clover and Lucerne will rest the soil, improve fertility and yield a harvestable medicinal crop.

Green manures will be tilled in, but other than this and the harvesting of root crops, the garden will be largely managed as no dig. We will grow vegetables in this garden that require less management/harvest time, that are known, horticulturally, as field crops. These include main crop brassicas, potatoes, squash, alliums and roots.

Our two 8x30m polytunnels will be an important part of our business and domestic food production and are an essential part of a sustainable food supply in West Wales where shelter from the elements is vital for many crops. It will be managed as a no dig system using composts and manures generated onsite. We will also propagate plants for the rest of the site in this area.

Plants will be irrigated by gravity using low-pressure drip pipes that use 90% less water than sprinklers and hoses. Drip pipes ensure only the plants are watered, which reduces weed germination and problems with slugs. Rainwater will be harvested from the greenhouse and stored in tanks and pumped uphill using a solar pump to replenish our main header tanks during the summer months.

Permaculture Principle. Small and slow solutions Permaculture promotes the use of small scale, community based solutions to sustainable living, and the slow, incremental development of homes and businesses. Although we have an imposed time frame to work towards we have created a business and management approach that changes as the site slowly matures allowing for flexibility and reflection.

Buildings: Dwelling and ancillary. Our dwelling will be 136m2 orientated for maximum solar gain, well insulated and designed to be low cost to maintain, durable and made from locally sourced natural materials. It will be home to our family plus a small space to accommodate visiting friends/ family. We have positioned the dwelling to ensure minimum visual impact on our neighbours, choosing external materials that blend in with the landscape.

14 We have carefully located tree plantings and shelter belts to visually screen the dwelling from view. Locating the dwelling lower in the landscape will create the added benefit of a gravity fed water supply rather than dependency on pumps. We have chosen a dwelling design that is straight forward to dismantle and remove.

Adjacent to our dwelling we will locate a small, intensively managed domestic garden. This garden will be protected by solid post and board fence to create a sheltered and walled garden. The fence will create valuable vertical growing space for climbing and trained fruit plus a warm microclimate to allowing earlier planting and later harvesting potential. We will cultivate vegetables requiring more attention (irrigation and regular harvests such as salads, herbs, other greens) in this garden.

On the west side of this garden will be a 20m2 workshop for mechanical repairs, servicing, carpentry work and tool storage. We will have a woodshed located near our dwelling to enable ease and speed of collection and processing of wood for domestic use.

We will locate a cold store to the north of our dwelling, in which to store vegetables and fruit grown on site for long term use. We have designed it to be earth covered and partially recessed for insulative purposes. This also serves to minimise its visual impact. It will be passively cooled by an air intake duct buried and running underground for some distance, thus negating the need for refrigeration. It has been located near the dwelling for convenience.

Stock yard/dairy We benefit from an existing barn 60m2 on the property, which we intend to make use of. It is made of concrete block with slate roof and concrete pad. We will extend the barn to 78m2 creating straw and hay storage areas. These extensions will be constructed with locally grown timber, and will form an internal stock-yard for over wintering our cows when the land is too wet to have them out. The internal part of the barn will form a milking area, stalling and dairy room.

Processing/Storage barn 64m2 This will be located near the stockyard and will form an essential part of our land-based enterprises. It will replace the current open sided field shelter. Here we will process raw herbs into various products and store them prior to sale. We will also have a juicing and fermentation room for producing and storing cider. Larger tools will also be stored here. The building will be round wood framed, timber clad, metal roofed and largely un-insulated. There will also be a small lean too polytunnel of 18m2 secured to the front of a portion of this barn. This will act for plant propagation to provide supplementary warmth to early sown crops and for the drying of herbs for tea blends.

Access/Tracks/Hard standing There is existing access from the council highway along a lane shared with our neighbour. Following a report from LVW Highways, see Appendix 10.9, it was clear that the visual splays provide adequate sight lines onto the highway. We will make minor modifications to the existing site entrance, off the shared lane, to make access easier for the larger vehicles anticipated during the development phase. This

15 widened entranceway will also enable us to provide a separate entrance for the PROW whilst allowing us to secure our site.

We have decided to have two centres of activity, a dwelling located in the lower area of the site and a processing barn and stock yard/dairy located at the top of the site next to the site entrance and alongside the existing barn. The two centres of activity will be linked by a good track, which makes movement efficient and gives us the ability to observe a large amount of the site as we travel between the two.

Around the processing barn we will have an area of unsealed hard standing for parking and turning. To the north of the dwelling and garden will be hard standing with room for parking our vehicle and those of visitors plus turning space for deliveries etc. A track from the entrance leading to our dwelling and to the barn will be installed. The areas of hard standing and track will be constructed from local stone and designed to ensure minimal maintenance costs in the long term.

The location of the track was chosen to minimise the disturbance to the geology of the site, link the barns to an ideal dwelling site and reduce the amount of quarried stone we will have to use in its construction. In order to achieve this however a few young (under 10 yrs) trees will have to be removed. Having completed a tree survey we observed that the majority of the trees here had significant squirrel damage to the bark to the point that many of them will not progress to maturity.

We identified 3 oaks that are free from damage and will not be affected by the laying of the track and we intend to leave these in place. The further down the field one goes, the worse the squirrel damage gets, the result of an unchecked squirrel population. The majority of these trees (including oak, beech and blackthorn, all 10 years or under) will be removed and the area replanted with productive trees and natives. We also intend to manage the population of squirrels to prevent further damage to trees in the future.

Although we do not like to cut down trees for ecological reasons we feel justified in doing so for the aforementioned reasons. Over the next 5 years we will introduce a further 4000+ trees from over 40 species and we feel this mitigates the removal of a small number of immature, damaged trees.

Permaculture Principle. Zoning The concept of zoning is a simple design tool employed in Permaculture site design to maximise efficiency. Our site design can be viewed as a series of zones beginning with the home and extending outwards into distinct and connected parts of the holding. Where possible, we have tried to locate close to the dwelling those design features that require more resources, labour and energy to manage, and tried to locate those that require less resources further away. For example our small intensive vegetable garden is adjacent to our home, yet our coppice systems are some way from the dwelling. We have also tried to balance this with the need to maximise the benefits of natural water movement, work with existing structures and affordable access with efficient use of materials.

16 4. BUSINESS AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN 4.1 Land Based Activity Objective By Year 5, to provide the minimum food needs of our family, and the minimum income necessary to meet basic domestic needs directly from our site, as a result of our labours, as occupants, on the site.

Overview Our vegetables will be grown in two locations; an intensively managed garden close to the dwelling where vegetable crops requiring more frequent attention will be grown, and our staple crops or field crops being grown in another less intensely managed garden slightly further from the dwelling.

We will have a forest garden where a large number of edible plant species will be grown including many perennial vegetables. Fruit, berries and nuts will be grown in the forest garden and orchard systems where we will grow traditional crops plus more unusual species.

We will use some of our commercial protected growing space for home supply of tender fruit/vegetables and season extension of important crops, such as leafy greens and early root crops. A number of tables show which crops we will produce plus their availability throughout the year fresh, stored and processed. See Vegetable Production table in Appendix 10.11.

We will have up to two milking cows to meet our entire dairy needs, with surplus being sold or bartered, locally. We intend to slaughter any males bred, for home consumption. We will also rear chickens and ducks for eggs and meat.

As a substantial amount of our food will be tree crops that can take a number of years to begin producing we will only include those crops in our food needs target which we can produce at year 5. Between year 5 and year 15 we expect our tree crop systems to enter full production and the percentage of our food needs grown on site to rise significantly. This supports the theory that over time, Permaculture systems become more productive and less costly to manage.

Food items that we are unable to produce from our holding will be purchased from income derived from our land based business.

Our domestic food production and enterprise will be managed alongside our commitment to enhance the ecology of our site and the surrounding area. We have

17 included in our site design recommendations included in our ecological survey such as bodies of water and trees, and enhanced important habitats such as coppiced areas and hedge banks.

We expect this to have a positive impact on populations of wildflower, countless species of insects and birds. We plan to manage much of the site using traditional management techniques including coppicing, hedgelaying, grazing and hay making, again having a positive effect on site ecology. Other elements of our site design and management plan are based on more contemporary land use approaches such as our forest garden and alley cropping system all of which utilise perennial plants and are a haven for wildlife.

Subsistence At time of writing this application, our average weekly food-spend for our family is £74.

Broken down into category and viewed as an annual budget it looks like this: Food group % of spend Value £

Meat 8.2 315.17

Poultry 4.5 172.17

Fish 4.9 189.75

Fruit/ Veg 29 1116.85

Oils 0.9 35

Dairy 12.5 481.42

Grain mill 0.2 8.74

Bread/rice/pasta/cereals 12.9 495.87

Confectionary 4.9 186.84

Beverages 16.7 641.68

Other 5.3 207.74

Total 100 3851.22

When reflecting on how to produce the majority of our food needs from our holding we have not just focused on the obvious food groups like fruit, vegetables, animal products but instead tried to creatively provide for other items not so easily produced at a small scale in West Wales, namely sugars, oils and grains. With this in mind we believe that tree crops present the most low impact way of replacing some of the staple food groups traditionally produced from arable agriculture and imported from far away places Sugar/ Sweeteners We have designed into our system trees grown specifically for edible saps, which can be processed into alcohol or reduced into syrups to replace sugars and other

18 sweetening products. See Bush and Tree Crops table in Appendix 10.11. Added to this is the tuber crop, Yacon, which although grown as an annual can integrate well into perennial systems. It is easy to propagate each year and can yield syrup when processed.

Grains/ Oils Although we will not attempt to grow cereals for home use we will grow several species of nuts, which will in time replace our dependency on grains. Sweet chestnut is nutritionally identical to rice and wheat for example and can be incorporated into the diet in many ways from fresh use to dried and milled as a flour. Other species with a higher fat content such as Walnut, Heartnut and Hazel can have delicious and nutritious oils extracted from them and will in time replace our dependency on shop bought oils. We have chosen to integrate nut crops into our system as they offer a long-term alternative to arable crops and a resilient way of producing staple food groups. Replacing arable agriculture with tree systems has massive environmental implications including the reduction of carbon emissions, regeneration of soil health and increased carbon sequestration. Other than planting and minimal maintenance the only work associated with growing nuts is harvesting and processing. Most nut species start yielding 3-5 years from planting with peak production being reached at 8-15 years depending on species. Squirrels are a real threat to the viability of nut production. We will manage numbers through traditional methods. See Bush and Tree Crops table in Appendix 10.11. Beverages A range of herbaceous plants will be grown in our forest garden system that will be dried for use in teas. These include mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, nettle, lime flower and yarrow. We will also press, bottle and pasteurize fruit and berry juices for out of season supply. We will make our own hedgerow wines from blackberry, elder and rosehip and cider from apples grown on our holding.

As already mentioned, produce from our long term tree systems will not be included in our year 5 subsistence target of meeting 65% of our basic food needs.

Year round supply One of the challenges of growing food in a temperate climate is the short growing season of between 6-7 months, which limits the availability of fresh produce. Traditionally this issue was addressed by storing produce over the winter in a way that retained its freshness and vitality for as long as possible, usually for most of the winter.

A bigger challenge is the hungry gap usually April-mid June where stored produce has degraded and fresh produce is not available. This pattern is apparent when viewing our vegetable production list. In order to genuinely attempt to consume our own food year round we have come up with a series of approaches to ensure a diverse and year round supply of as many food groups as possible.

Crop Planning of Annual Vegetables Having fresh produce during the growing season is straight forward, yet it is easy to have large amounts all at once during the summer and not enough early or late

19 produce. A crop plan is essential to avoid these gluts and helps to allow for successional sowing/ planting, giving continuous yields over the longest possible period. A simple example of this is having two sowing dates for beetroot or carrots, one in April and one in June. This will yield fresh roots over the summer plus an autumn harvested crop for winter storage.

Fresh Winter Storage Some crops can be field stored, that is harvested as needed from the garden throughout the winter; some brassicas and leeks can be managed this way. However, most late season crops need to be harvested and stored correctly if they are to last. We have designed a bespoke fresh food storage area located in close proximity to the dwelling, which will be passively cooled, rodent proof and easily accessible from our home. Potatoes, roots and some brassicas will be stored here. There will be a separate fruit storage area mostly for apples and other fruit. See Appendix 10.6 for scaled drawing of Cold Store.

Protected growing Glasshouses and polytunnels provide an essential space to produce tender fruit and vegetables during the main growing season plus the ability to extend the growing season by 4-10 weeks in the spring and autumn. In West Wales a large variety of crops can be grown undercover throughout the winter and early spring, mostly leafy greens. These come at a time when there are thin pickings in the garden and so provide essential nutritional value during this time. See Vegetable Production chart in Appendix 10.11.

Drying and Processing Modern small- holding processing usually involves bottling, (which requires high amounts of energy) or making jams/chutneys (which requires lots of sugar and energy). Both require lots of time, which can be hard to find during the late summer.

We’ve found that the lowest input ways of preserving fruit and vegetables is through dehydration and fermentation respectively. Many crops will be dried and stored for long term use either in our home made drying unit or over a wood stove in smaller batches. These include all nuts and pulses plus most fruits and vegetables.

We have been fermenting12 vegetables for a few years now and eat sauerkraut and kimchee with most meals. We find it a delicious and low effort way to process excess vegetables, particularly roots and brassicas.

A large amount of our winter crops will be harvested and stored into the new year and processed in this way. The best quality items would be fermented and potentially kept for a further 3-6 months depending on conditions, seeing us through the hungry gap. Crops harvested in mid Sept-Oct can thus be made available until July and beyond13.

12 Chopped vegetables are salted and left to sit in their own juice for a couple of weeks or more when they start to ferment, exhibiting greatly increased nutritional content. ‘Wild Fermentation’- Sandor Katz 13 This method has been developed by Ben Falk and described in his book ‘The Resilient Homestead’

20 Variety selection This is an essential method for staggering the harvest of the same species and avoiding massive gluts and excessive harvest workloads. For example, most soft and top fruits are divided into early, mid and late harvesting groups and it is sensible to ensure there’s an even spread of each group. It is therefore possible to have fresh red currants from the end of June to the end of September.

This is also the case with annual vegetables. Sweetcorn varieties have different maturity times for example. One can sow 3 varieties on the same date and receive a staggered harvest from the end of August to late October.

A further challenge is growing plants in a location where they are at their regional limit. For example walnuts can be grown in West Wales but are susceptible to frost damage. Choosing a late flowering variety can avoid this problem alongside good microclimate design and sound general management.

Choosing varieties with natural pest and disease resistance can also help reduce the need for intervention; this is the case with apples where often older/ locally bred varieties are hardier than more modern internationally available alternatives which have been bred for dependency on frequent chemical inputs.

Perennial/wild plants These will be cultivated in the forest garden and foraged from the lesser-managed areas of the site and will provide an essential part of our diet, particularly during the hungry gap when many wild greens and shoots are springing up in abundance. We currently consume large amounts of nettles and wild garlic in the spring and there are many more perennial vegetables that are lesser known and can be easily integrated into forest garden systems and left to naturalise across certain areas. See Perennial Crops Table in Appendix 10.11.

Microclimate Creation Part of our design strategy has been to improve the growing conditions of our site and therefore our ability to meet more of our needs by creating beneficial microclimates. This allows for a more favourable growing environment than the surrounding area would otherwise allow and means we can grow species that would not succeed under normal conditions.

Our main design strategies for achieving this are: • Creating shelter from wind via shelter belts, hedgerows • Creating south facing pockets using plantings and earthworks such as hedgebanks • Bodies of water with south facing berms at the back creating warm, frost free areas year round

Animals We have experience in managing poultry, pigs, dairy cows and to a lesser extent, goats. We feel that when well designed into a land/food production system, animals offer more than just eggs, meat and milk. Apart from being a real joy to be around, the role animals play in cycling fertility, reducing waste and breaking pest and disease cycles is incredibly valuable.

Animals reared for meat will be slaughtered on site in accordance with UK food hygiene, animal welfare and TSE regulations14. We will at certain times of the year have surplus dairy products that we will make into cheese and yoghurt for our own consumption.

Cows We intend to have two Jersey milking cows at any time, which will be in varying stages of milk production, resting and calving. One cow will be calving each year and offspring will be eaten on site (males) or retained for the next generation of milk production (females). Experienced milkers will be sold after 3-4 calves.

We have chosen to keep milking cows as they are well adapted to the climate and suit the terrain of the site. Jerseys have a mild temperament and have traditionally made excellent house-cows because of this.

Cow manure will form part of our fertility management system and will be used along side long and short-term green manures in our polytunnels and vegetable gardens. All manure and bedding will be retained on site and managed to prevent runoff. See Waste, page 55.

We will employ intensive grazing within our alley cropping system to practice what is known as silvo-pasture. Wide spaced rows of productive trees and herbaceous understory will be combined with grass/herb strips intended for grazing and hay cropping. Each ‘alley’ will be temporarily split into small grazing blocks made available to the cattle every few days depending on conditions and intensively grazed. The animals will then be moved on into fresh pasture and not revisit the same ground for many weeks. This will be managed using movable, solar powered electric fencing.

The advantages of this management system are referred to in our Design Strategy, please see page 8. The flora of the grazing land will be a combination of long lived, protein rich grasses and clovers, with the aim of improving milk production and providing thick, year round ground cover, and wild herbs and flowers, many of which help to improve the health of grazing animals as well as providing forage for insects15.

We have designed in around four acres of actual grazing within the total system, which will provide adequate grazing and hay for two adult milking cows. We support the idea of mowing and moving our own hay using low impact approaches and traditional tools for e.g. scythe. At the same time we are prepared to employ a local contractor to mechanically harvest the crop (with small equipment) should time or weather necessitate and will budget to do so. Hay will be stored in the hay shed, adjacent to the dairy/milking room for ease of access.

14 https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home-killguide.pdf 15 Chicory and birdsfoot trefoil can help reduce worm burdens in livestock Cotswold Seeds customer information.

22 One of the benefits of Jersey cows is their relatively small stature means they can be kept outside later into the year with minimal poaching of the land. This combined with the frequent moving of intensive grazing means annual management of damaged grassland will be minimal. We plan to monitor the health of the sward closely and during wet spells when poaching is likely we can house the cows in the existing barn and adjacent yard until ground conditions change. This building, which we are lucky enough to have inherited, will also be used as a milking parlour and dairy room. The building already benefits from spring water supply and a concrete pad and is perfect for the stalling of 2 cows.

Chickens We will have 10-15 chickens at any one time and will try various breeds to find the best adapted to our management system and conditions. We will favour multi purpose birds as we intend to keep chickens for eggs and meat. Males will be eaten when young and females after three years. Our chickens will be included in our intensive grazing system, housed in a movable pen within electric poultry netting, and will follow the cows after 3-5 days.

There are many advantages in doing this. Chickens will consume parasites and fly larvae from manure and distribute it more evenly across the pasture, they will contribute to the maintenance of an acceptable level of fertility with their own manure and find a significant portion of their own forage from the grassland and associated tree crops. They can also help break fruit pest cycles by foraging through fallen fruit, leaf litter and ground cover eating insects and their larvae as they go.

We will cultivate certain crops to provide seasonal food for the chickens that we can harvest directly or allow them to forage for. A few examples are Mulberry, Black locust, Siberian pea tree, and comfrey. Although we will not typically allow the birds access into our vegetable area we will at times allow them in to tidy up crop waste and graze green manures. Grade outs of fruit and veg not suitable for marketing will also be given. We estimate that about 50% of chicken and duck feed can be produced on site.

Ducks We will keep a number of Indian Runner and Khaki Campbell ducks, known to have a taste for slugs, in close proximity to our vegetable gardens and tunnels, allowing them to forage before spring planting and once main crops have become established. This ensures ongoing slug management whilst protecting young plants from duck damage. We will in general not allow them access to our larger ponds as these have been designed with habitat for amphibians and insects in mind. We will of course eat their eggs and any surplus males.

Pigs We will not attempt to breed our own pigs as, based on our experience, keeping adult pigs is costly and stressful. We will however buy in weaned piglets in August/September for slaughter in February/March on site. We will butcher and preserve the meat ourselves for use throughout the year, with a small amount frozen but mostly dry cured and smoked.

23 Pigs will be kept in a permanent, heavy- duty enclosure, with lots of space and good quality housing. When the animals are removed the land will be sown with deep rooting green manures and fodder crops to feed the next batch of weaners 5 months later. The arrival of the pigs coincides with large quantities of crop wastes from the gardens and poly tunnels. In addition, the area around the pig enclosure will be planted with fodder crops such as nuts, which will also produce shade and comfrey. These can simply be tossed over the fence as required. In all, this will dramatically reduce feed costs and improve the quality of the meat produced.

By year 5 we will produce more than 65% of our own food as illustrated below. Certain food groups however will still be bought in at that point but as already stated by year 10 when our system has matured and begun reaching full production we expect the % to be far higher.

Table: Showing % and value of food produced on site by Year 5. % total % Value of food spend (at Annual Food Group produced produced on time of spend on site site writing) Meat 8.2 315.17 100% 315.17 Poultry/ products 4.5 172.17 100% 172.17 Fish 4.9 189.75 0 0 Fruit and veg16 29 1116.85 100% 1116.85 Oils 0.9 35 0 0 Dairy 12.5 481.42 100% 481.42 Grain Mill 0.2 8.74 0 0 Bread/ cereal/ 12.9 495.87 0 0 rice Confectionary 4.9 186.84 20% 37.37 Beverages 16.7 641.68 80% 513.34 Other 5.3 207.74 20% 41.55 Total 3851.22 2677.87 % of food produced on site by Year 5 69.5%

As already mentioned we believe the figure of 65% of food needs being produced directly from the site will increase over time as our agroforestry plantings mature. Additionally we believe that our diets will change somewhat once we begin living a one planet lifestyle and our consumption of certain food groups, particularly grain products such as bread/pasta will reduce. We are also interested in learning how to fish on the nearby river which runs along the whole southern boundary of the land we own that is being left as a nature reserve and not included in our OPD plan. Members of the local community believe the river is well stocked with trout and sometimes salmon.

16 Although producing 100% of our fresh fruit and vegetable requirements from our site is very difficult we feel it is possible if we alter our diets to include more perennial/wild vegetables which fill the gap in production indicated in our vegetable production and perennial crop charts. Large amounts of produce will also be dried and processed from summer surplus. Our polytunnels will also be productive year round.

24 Table: Annual domestic food production costs Yr5

Costs On site Value Production production costs % Seeds 120 100% 120 0 Potting 60 100% 60 0 Compost Sundries 100 0 0 100 Dairy hygiene 20 0 0 20 Vet bills 150 0 0 150 Hay 240 100% 240 0 Hay 160 0 160 160 production (contractor) Weaners x2 80 0 80 80 Organic Pig 300 60% 180 120 feed Organic 100 50% 50 50 poultry feed Straw 160 0 0 160 Tool/ 100 0 0 100 infrastructure maintenance Mineral 30 0 0 30 supplements Total 1720 890 830

It is clear that we will reduce our production costs by over 50% by producing on site the majority of our livestock feed and all vegetable seeds and composts.

Enterprise: income Basic Income Needs As a family we have a number of overheads which form our basic income needs. When combined these represent a minimum amount we must generate from land based enterprises run from our holding. We’ve used figures presented elsewhere in this document and made 5 year projections based upon our current expenditure.

Basic Income Needs Year 5 (£) Clothing Footwear £150 Clothes £250 Travel Vehicle fuel £1,003 Tax/ Insurance £680 Vehicle maintenance £500 Public transport £50 IT/ Telecoms Mobiles £300 Internet £180 Website £150 Council Tax £720 35% food not grown/reared Food on site £1,274 TOTAL £5,257

Enterprises We will run two enterprises from the site to meet our basic income needs.

26 Enterprise 1: Medicinal Herbs Cultivating herbs that possess both edible and medicinal properties and perform useful roles in creating and expanding biodiversity on our site. Producing certified organic herbal products for wholesale and direct supply

Background/Market Context • Currently the majority of herbs are imported into UK 17 and hence are vulnerable to global market forces. • Based on our research with medicinal herbal producers in the UK, there is a rising interest in herbs grown in the UK. • Some overseas production is done under questionable working practices and with little Fairtrade18 • Over 70% of the world herb trade is still sourced from the wild: damaging harvesting practices of wild medicinal plants as ingredients for food, cosmetics, well-being is leading to intense pressure on potentially vulnerable plant species and endangering local ecosystems16 • Local/regional production is becoming increasingly respected, with building interest in small scale production with an emphasis on quality, affordability and environmental/social accountability • Many medicinal herbs are native to the UK and require little maintenance to produce once established • There is a rising interest in herbal medicinal products19 • And an increase in sales of organic produce20

17 Stock lists, Organic Herbal Trading Company http://www.organicherbtrading.com 18 FairWild Foundation http://www.fairwild.org/ 19 With a 2% current value growth in 2016, mainly due to herbal and kids dietary supplements, which increased by 26% www.euromonitor.com/herbal-traditional-products-in-the-united-kingdom/report. In 2012, the UK herbal products market increased by a healthy 3% in current value terms, to reach £485 million. Companiesandmarkets.com 4 September 2013. Herbal remedies representing 65% of total sales in UK's alternative healthcare market in 2012 www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2brflr/alternative

Motivation for enterprise For several years Clare and James Adamson have been learning the theory and practice of growing and processing herbal plants with both edible and medicinal properties as well as their ecological importance

This enterprise interests us: • We have experienced first-hand the important role herbal medicine can play in personal healthcare • It provides a greater opportunity for people to be responsible for their own health and well-being • It provides an opportunity to meet a fundamental human need from the natural world • There is an increasing interest in meeting health care needs at a community level.

Site-specific context • Our site lends itself to the production of many medicinal herbs with many marketable species already present in abundance for e.g. plantain, meadowsweet, valerian, angelica, hawthorn, nettle • Herbs play an essential part of broader sustainable land use due to their high ecological value and role in providing forage and habitat for many insect species, that will pollinate e.g. bees and predate pests of other fruit and vegetable crops such as aphids, winter moths, codling moth, fruit flies • Our site has the existing benefit of being organically certified by the Soil Association License Number AB25932.

Products overview • Organic fresh herbs sold to existing herbal medicine processors • Organic processed herbs (tinctures and herbal infused oils) to accredited professional herbalists • Organic Dried herb tea blends online and to local stores.

USPs • Organically and locally produced by a small family business using Permaculture principles • Grown under the One Planet Development framework • Part of a growing movement of One Planet Produce derived products.

Market We have completed extensive market research into the retail, wholesale and direct sales aspects of a medicinal herb business. We have contacted, spoken with, interviewed and visited producers, growers, processors, retail outlets, accredited

20 In 2016 total sales of organic products increased by 7.1% with the UK organic market now worth £2.09 billion. 1.5% of the total UK food and drink market is organic. Beers/wines/spirits sales are up by 14.3% with sales of beauty and wellbeing products being up 13%. Soil Association Organic Market Report 2017 https://www.soilassociation.org/certification/market-research-and-data/the-organic-market-report/

28 herbalists. We sent out questionnaires to be completed as to what products would be of interest.

We have already established potential customer base, with expressed interest from processors for fresh herb sales, herbalists for direct sale of tinctures/macerated oils, in SW Wales, the rest of Wales and across the UK. For reasons of confidentiality, we are not including specific details of those we have spoken with.

We aim to market our produce in a number of ways to spread risk in a way that connects with local, regional and national customers • Direct communication with retailers and processors • Using trade directories such as The Herb Society21 • Direct mail to herbalists, herbal fairs • Online and social media presence • Local and regional events • Local OPD and rural networks.

Production • Herb crops will be grown across the site in a number of different systems, our poly-tunnels (tender plants), produce garden and understory to the orchard alley-cropping system • Herbs will be grown to meet our enterprise needs and also to facilitate other important functions in the landscape. See Alley Cropping section in Design Strategy, page 10. • Some species have multiple uses and can be used for fruit, medicine, and biomass production • Some species will support biodiversity, will attract beneficial insects, create forage for insects and wild animals and birds • We believe this can increase productivity and stability. This is a central part of Permaculture Design theory where it is recommended that each design element perform multiple functions.

21 www.herbsociety.org.uk

29 Herbal Products: Specifics

1. Tinctures: direct supply to accredited Herbalists We will supply tinctures direct to professional and accredited Herbalists, as ingredients for them to blend into remedies they prescribe for their clients.

What are Tinctures?

A tincture is the liquid preparation produced by macerating prepared plant material in a mixture of alcohol and water at room temperature over a prescribed period of time, which is then pressed and filtered to yield a fluid into which active constituents of the herb have dissolved. For those individuals who choose not to ingest alcohol extracts an alternative preparation can also be extracted in cider vinegar or infused into oils22

If you make a water extract such as infusions (tea) only the constituents that are water-soluble will be included in the infusion. Preparing an alcoholic extract, using a menstrum of water and alcohol, brings a more complete extract of the spectrum of the plant's overall medicinal virtues. The alcohol acts as a preservative, and the extract will keep for years.

We will use denatured alcohol (ethanol) as our extraction method. This will be purchased with an alcohol license from HM Revenue and Customs and stored as per the regulations and safety standards assigned to this product.23

In the UK, tinctures have for a long time been the most used form of medicine by herbal practitioners and are growing in popularity with the public. They are widely available, economical to produce and use, compact enough to stock in considerable variety and have a good shelf life. They can be mixed with each other in almost any combination, and are convenient to take. Within reason they can be mixed with other liquid preparations such as fluid extracts, syrups and juices. They can also be incorporated into many forms of preparation for external use. We will supply our tinctures in line with Section 12 (1) of the Medicine Act 196824.

Production methods We will have a bespoke herbal tincture processing room in our Processing Barn and a separate storage room for the tinctures, within the Barn, once bottled up into units for shipping to herbalists. These rooms shall be closed to visitors to the farm and will be fully secure.

22 https://theherbarium.wordpress.com 23 http://www.safety.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/hsd051c.pdf http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg51.pdf 24 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/67/pdfs/ukpga_19680067_en.pdf

30 Growing Specifics Our tinctures will be produced from herbs grown in our produce garden, using annual and perennial plants in a complex crop rotation.

Herbs will be grown that are naturally adapted to our site conditions and that, based on our market research, are most popular with herbalists. • St Johns Wort: Hypericum perforatum • Hyssop: Hyssopus officinalis • Vervain: Verbena officinalis • Skullcap: Scutellaria lateriflora • Annise Hyssop: Agastache foeniculum • Lemon Balm: Melissa officinalis • Sage: Salvia officinalis • Feverfew: Tanacetum f. graecum • Echinechea: Echinacea purpurea • Elecampagne: Inula helenium • Alfalfa: Medicago sativa • Burdock: Arctium lappa/ minus • Calendula: Calendula officinalis • Angelica: Angelica archangelica • Red Clover: Trifolium pretense

2. Herbal Infused Oils: direct supply to accredited herbalists We will supply herbal infused oils direct to professional and accredited Herbalists, as ingredients for them to blend into remedies they prescribe for their clients.

What are Herbal Infused oils? Infused oil, also referred to as macerated oil, consists of carrier oil that has been permeated (“infused” or "macerated") with one or more herbs. Carrier oil is a vegetable oil derived from the fatty portion of a plant, usually from the seeds, kernels or the nuts. The term carrier oil is derived from their purpose in carrying the essential oil onto the skin.

Production methods The oils will be processed in our Processing Barn with a separate storage room for the oils once bottled up into units for shipping to herbalists. Both areas are able to be closed to visitors to the farm and fully secure, even if we are not on the premises.

Plant matter will be harvested, dried in our drying unit and macerated/infused in carrier oil for a prescribed time, drained, bottled and stored ready for shipment direct to herbalists

31 The carrier oil used will be an organic sunflower oil, chosen with for its light, stable qualities, buying it in from a reputable wholesaler initially, and would look to see how we could incorporate growing sunflowers for our own oil production down the line.

Growing Specifics We will produce a limited variety of herbal infused oils: • Comfrey: Symphytum officinalis • St Johns Wort: Hypericum perforatum

These will be grown as understory crops in our Alley Cropping Orchard system. We will grow Comfrey and St John’s Wort, harvesting 25% for infused oil production, 25% for fresh herb sale, with 50% left in situ to support the wider biodiversity and fertility of the site

3. Fresh herbs: direct wholesale supply to herbal remedy processors We will supply fresh herbs to processors of medicinal products, who will use the raw material in the production of their own-branded herbal products.

We are already in conversation with existing businesses that are keen to work with local and national growers to supply raw herbal material particularly if organically produced.

What is a Fresh herb? In the context of our enterprise, a fresh herb is where the plant matter is freshly harvested and promptly despatched to a processor, once graded to make sure that no contaminants (other plant matter or insects) are present when dispatched via courier.

Growing specifics Fresh herbs will be grown as understory crops in our Alley Cropping Orchard system. We’ll grow aerial plants, meaning the flower and leaf part of the plant will be harvested. In most cases 50% of each herb crop will be harvested, leaving the rest to support the wider biodiversity and fertility of the site.

In the case of Comfrey and St John’s Wort we will harvest 25% for fresh herb sale, 25% for infused oil production and the rest to support the wider biodiversity of the site. In the case of nettle we will harvest the entire crop25

25 Important Note. Over time the canopy of trees, in our alley cropping system, under which the herbs are to be cultivated, will become denser, as the trees grow and mature, allowing less light in. We have designed the spacing of the trees specifically to ensure that even when the trees reach full maturity, at Year 15, there will be herb-growing area remaining in full light. At Year 10, we’d expect a 30% drop off, and at Year 15 a 50% drop off. As a result, income derived from herb produce will increase, then plateau and then decrease. At Year 10 Cider Production/Selling will come online, and we intend to focus on developing more value added herb products at this stage.

32 Herbs to be grown that are adapted to the growing conditions in the orchard and which we can market to processors: Common Name: Latin • Comfrey: Symphytum officinalis • Nettle: Urtica Dioica • Yarrow: Achillea millefolium • Skullcap: Scutellaria lateriflora • Lemon balm: Melissa officinalis • Peppermint: Mentha Piperita • Red Clover: Trifolium pretense • Vervain: Verbena officinalis • Agrimony: Agriminia eupatoria • St John’s Wort: Hypericum perforatum

4. Dried herbs: tea blends: retail direct online and via local stores We will blend dried herbs to make a unique and own-branded tea with specific beneficial characteristics and flavour. This will be sold direct to customers online.

What is a tea blend? Tea blending is the blending of different herbs together to produce a consistent and reliable product, aiming for a well-balanced flavour

Production methods The herbs will be harvested and dried in our drying room, which will be part of our processing barn, and packaged into 100g own-branded tea packs as loose tea, using biodegradable packaging and stored ready for shipment.

Growing specifics Plants for our tea blend will be grown as an understory to our alley cropping system and in our greenhouse for the more tender plants.

In the Alley cropping area: Nettle: Urtica Dioica, by Year 5 we’ll have 316m2 in production

Grown under cover in polytunnels: • Tulsi: Ocimum sanctum 2x 25m beds • Ashwaganda: Withania somnifera 1x 25m bed • Sweet Tea: Gynostemma pentifilum 1x25m bed

33 Enterprise 2: Fruit Creating an orchard system that supports biodiversity and integrates with grazing systems for livestock. Producing certified organic soft fruit and heritage apples for fresh produce, value-added juice blends and craft cider.

Background/Context • Wales imports the majority of its fruit26 • Yet Wales has a climate ideal for the production of many species, particularly cane fruit, currants and apples • Cider sales are growing in the UK27 • There has been a steady increase in new cider orchards in the South West and Wales28 • Small scale craft cider is enjoying a revival (or rather more people are enjoying cider!) • There is a revival of heritage products.

26 DEFRA-Basic Horticultural Statistics 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341921/hort-report-07aug14.pdf 27 In October 2012, Asda announced that sales of low-alcohol beer and cider had risen 33% during the previous twelve months www.internationalsupermarketnews.com/news/7644 http://www.drinkswales.org/cider-producers 28 http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/cider-boom-puts-more-arable-land-under-orchard.htm https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/orchard-fruit-survey-2012

34 Motivation for enterprise For several years Clare and James Adamson have been learning both factually and practically, about growing and grafting fruit trees and bushes, and have collected and built up stock of a number of Welsh heritage varieties of desert and cider apple trees.

This field of work interests us as • We love apples, juice and cider • We love apple blossom, its look, its fragrance, and the support it gives the bees • Orchard and grazing combination is a traditional land use option • Fruit was widely grown in West Wales, for example there are many varieties of welsh apples, e.g. Morgan’s Sweet, Pig Aderyn and LLanacheron Peach and there is a revival of heritage products, which we are excited to be part of • Apple trees work well with grazing and productive groundcover systems, which complement our wider site plans.

Site-specific context • Our site has the existing benefit of being organically certified by the Soil Association License Number AB25932 • Fruit production will be successful from our holding as it has good frost drainage, deep soil and is under 150m elevation.

Products • Soft Fruit Juice for retail supply, supplied to local stores • Apple Juice supplied to local stores • Apples supplied to local stores/organic wholesalers • Cider supplied to licensed cafes/restaurants/pubs and retail stores.

USPs • Unique craft blends made from heritage welsh varieties of apple • Juice is just juice, no additions • Organically produced with all fruit grown on our site • Grown under One Planet ideals • Part of a growing movement of one planet derived products.

35 1. Apples and Juice

MARKET: • There is very little top fruit grown in the local area and very little welsh grown fruit supplied in the shops • Our research has shown there is local interest from outlets in buying our produce • There is local interest in Welsh heritage varieties of apple.

1a. Apples. We will cultivate apples for fresh sale to supply local people and the local organic wholesaler (C & M Organics, 1 mile away).

1b. Fruit Juices. We’ll produce apple and soft fruit juice to supply to local people direct and via retail outlets: Go Mango in Cardigan, Bean Freaks in Newport, health food shops in Narberth, Bwyd Y Byd in Crymych, and the community shop in Glandwr. Our research shows that there is much interest in our products, and also reluctance from retailers to commit to anything whilst we are in such early stages.

What is Juice? The Food Standards Agency describes fruit juice: The fermentable but unfermented product obtained from fruit which is sound and ripe, fresh or preserved by chilling, of one or more kinds mixed together, having the characteristic colour, flavour and taste typical of the juice of the fruit from which it comes29.

Production • Fruits will be harvested and transported to the packing station • Apples for fresh supply will be boxed up in cardboard, reusable boxes and dispatched to the local wholesaler, with some kept back for direct sales • Any unmarketable apples/all soft fruit will be made into juice: washed, juiced, bottled (in 2 litre glass bottles) and pasteurized. • The juice will be produced in a manner, which ensures it complies with food safety and hygiene standards, labelling and legislative regulations as outlined by Food Standards Agency, DEFRA and the Fruit Juice and Fruit Juice Nectar Regulations for Wales 201330. The juice will then be shipped directly to local retail outlets. • Glass bottles can be recycled, though not reused for sale of juice.

29 www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/fruitjuiceguidefeb07.pdf 30 www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/fruitjuiceguidefeb07.pdf www.britishsoftdrinks.com/write/MediaUploads/Publications/BSDA_-_FRUIT_JUICE_GUIDANCE_May_2016.pdf The Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Wales) Regulations www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2013/2750/introduction/made

Production Details • 25 apple trees on MM106 rootstocks, classed as moderately vigorous and limiting freestanding trees to 12ft tall, and which can be kept at 6-8ft with a good pruning regime31 • For successful apple tree growing, MM106 is the best choice for all purposes for home scale and commercial. It forms a healthy tree, which fruits at a young age. MM106 is suitable for all soils, including grassed orchards and poor soils. The most widely used rootstock32 • Apple trees will be grown next to the bank alongside the eastern edge of our land. • These trees will reliably yield 40kg per tree33 of which we expect around 60% will be of marketable quality. This will produce 144kgs of apples by Year 5. • The remaining 40% which would be graded out from fresh sales will be juiced with 96kg, producing 67 litres juice • We will supply apples to the local wholesaler in reusable crates that we can collect and reuse. Currants and raspberries will be grown outside in our forest garden • Growing a total of 120 raspberry plants, and 10 blackcurrants and 10 redcurrants, yielding 240kgs fruit, 222 litres of juice. The amount of juice that this amount of fruit can produce is based on personal experience.

2. Cider We will produce craft cider using heritage Welsh apple varieties, supplied in 500ml bottles licensed cafes/restaurants/pubs and retail outlets.

What is cider? The Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 states: Cider or Perry of a strength exceeding 1.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) but less than 8.5% ABV obtained from the fermentation of apple or pear juice without the addition at any time of any alcoholic liquor or liquor/substance which communicates colour or flavour, and where the pre-

31 www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/gardening-advice/fruit-tree-advice/apple-tree-rootstock-advice 32 www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=359 33 Trees, Martin Crawford

37 fermentation mixture satisfies the pre-fermentation juice requirement of 35% apple or pear juice must be included in any mixture34. Production • Production of cider will be completed in a manner which ensures it complies with food safety and hygiene standards, legislative, registration and licensing requirements (in place at the time of production). • We’ll harvest cider apples (September-October) and process them September-November. At this point our apples will be milled and pressed onsite, blended, then fermented in a temperature- controlled room (to regulate fermentation), all held within in our Processing barn. Cider will then be bottled in 500ml glass bottles and stored awaiting sale. • Cardboard boxes will be used to transport glass bottles rather than using plastic packaging. • We estimate we’ll produce 5280ltrs of cider. This is below the threshold that would require us to register our cider production premises and pay duty on the cider produced.35

Growing specifics • We will plant 80 cider trees, in an Alleycroping system with wide spacing within and between the rows at a third of stocking rate for traditional orchards • This will allow for higher light penetration into grazing land and groundcover herbal layers and ensure high productivity throughout the several layers of the alley cropping system. This follows good forest garden design principles. Our cider apples will be grown on M111 rootstock to produce large, heavy yielding trees well anchored and suited to heavy wet ground • The 80 trees will produce 110kg36 of fruit per tree, which we estimate will yield 8800kg apples and 5280ltrs of cider. This is based on the weight to volume ratio of 60% • Over the years we have collected around 30 varieties of apple cultivar and plan to acquire many more to trial their performance on our holding. These include many Welsh heritage varieties which have been rescued and preserved in small numbers plus some traditional vintage varieties • We already have significant number of trees growing from which we can create new nursery stock by grafting onto rootstock • Growing many apple varieties will help spread the risk of crop failure on what is generally a fairly reliable crop in west Wales. • Growing older varieties selected for disease resistance and being well suited to organic production. This combined with a complex and diverse under storey, designed to encourage predatory and pollinating insects, will mean a largely low input crop requiring little intervention.

34 The Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 Part 1 1.6 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/4/pdfs/ukpga_19790004_en.pdf 35 The HM Revenue and Customs Notice 162 states: that there is exemption from paying duty on cider where the total where the quantity made of either (including that made for your own consumption) is no more than 7,000 litres in any 12 month period www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-162-cider-production/excise-notice- 162-cider-production#sec-5 www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duties-claim-for-exemption-from- registration-by-a-maker-of-cider-or-perry-for-sale-cp33 36 Yield for trees grown in M111 rootstock are 180kg maximum. Martin Crawford “Trees for gardens, orchards and Permaculture”. We have reduced this predicted yield to 110kg to allow for lower yields under organic management and average site conditions.

Market • There are a small number of local producers in SW Wales, the nearest being Gethins Cyder (Haverfordwest: 20 miles away) and Henfryn Farm (Llandysul: 18 miles away) • There are very few outlets for local craft cider in the area, with people travelling to Fire and Ice, Narberth, Pembrokeshire (10 miles away), though we are noticing an increase in shops that are stocking craft ciders in the area over the past year. • Fire and Ice, though fully supportive of small local producers, are reluctant to commit to more than saying they would be interested in stocking our cider, given the long lead time until we’ll be producing saleable cider product. • We aim to sell to retail outlets and to licensed cafes/restaurants across Camarthanshire and Pembrokeshire • We will host a number of apple-focused community events over the year, including a traditional wassail, which will help to spread the word about our cider and help to build our reputation locally. We would look to sell cider in take home containers, larger than our standard 500ml bottles, for these events to reduce packaging • We also expect to gain sales momentum through the active local network of food and craft producers • We have time to trial cider blends and build local reputation as the cider apple trees take time to produce fruit (7-8 years) and then more to come into full bearing (15 years).

39 THE FIGURES. Overview Profit Fruit and Herbs Product Yr 4 Yr 5 Yr 10

HERBS Gross Net Gross Net Gross Net

alleycrop £4,130 £4,104 £5,724 £5,688 £4,003 £3,978 fresh

alleycrop oil £7,011 £4,815 £9,717 £6,674 £6,796 £4,668

tea blend £3,903 £3,765 £4,950 £4,776 £3,820 £3,685

tinctures £3,884 £3,029 £12,505 £9,855 £12,505 £9,855

Herb Totals £18,928 £15,713 £32,896 £26,992 £27,124 £22,185

FRUIT

Cider £- £- £- £- £15,840 £7,392

Apple Juice £280 £168 £336 £202 £1,120 £672

Fruit Juice £888 £533 £888 £533 £888 £533

Apples £210 £162 £252 £204 £840 £792

Fruit totals £1,378 £863 £1,476 £938 £18,688 £9,389

Sub total £20,306 £16,576 £34,372 £27,930 £45,812 £31,574

Site wide growing £1,480 £1,480 £1,480 costs

Total profit £15,096 £26,450 £30,094

For detailed financial costings & forecasting please refer to Appendix 10.1.

Our basic income need is £5,257. Our projection figures of £15,096 by Year 4 show that we can meet our basic income needs, and produce surplus. Any surplus would be reinvested into our project or into savings for future proofing.

Occupancy and Work Schedule We believe that the site has sufficient resources to support the three individuals comprising our household that will be regularly resident.

There will be two adults making their full-time living from our proposed site. A working week of 35 hours for two adults equals 3,640 hours a year. On an OPD site, working and living tasks are blurred and merged, so we would assume a working week to consist of a higher number of hours nearer 5,000. Having done an assessment of the amount of time each set of tasks should take we estimate that the enterprise, subsistence and land management activities required will take 4548. This would work out to just over 45 hours a week per adult on-site. This leaves enough time for unexpected tasks, and for tasks to take much longer than anticipated.

Though we will have seasonal volunteers at times, it is important for us to manage our home/enterprises ourselves. We have not factored volunteer help into our planning as we see this as more of a commitment to education/skill sharing than as additional labour. In fact, though volunteers can bring much benefit, it’s important to note that more often than not volunteers require more time to manage, show how to do tasks, and are more likely to make (costly) mistakes.

The list below shows the details of the number of hours of labour estimated to be required for each area of our development:

Task Hours per week Seasonality Hours per year Domestic fruit/veg 10 Apr-Oct 280 Polytunnel horticulture 8 AYR* 416 Produce garden 32 Apr- Oct 896 Orchard Maintenance 15 April-Nov 480 Fruit Harvest 16 Jul-Nov 320 Juicing/bottling 16 Sep-Nov 192 Herb Horticulture 16 Apr-Sep 384 Herb Harvest 12 May-Sep 240 Herb processing 10 May-Sep 200 Deliveries 2 AYR 104 Milking 7 AYR 364 Animal Care 2 AYR 416 Firewood Harvest Nov 64 Firewood Processing Jan 64 Building Maintenance As needed 64 General site Dec 64 maintenance Total 4548 * AYR: All year round

41 4.2. LAND MANAGEMENT

Objective We will conserve and enhance the sites biodiversity, cultural heritage and landscape and bring benefits to the wider landscape.

As previously mentioned, we have adopted Permaculture Design methods for creating our site plans. In order for this to be implemented during the initial stages and sustained during the long term, the principles and practises of Permaculture must be embedded in our management practices.

One of the central values of Permaculture is that ecological health and human wellbeing are intimately connected and equally valued. We will therefore create an ecologically diverse and resilient site that allows us to sustain ourselves and run a modest land based enterprise. The monitoring of our activities on site will provide a valuable way of maintaining this approach and we have also developed a management plan. A summary of which follows. For more information on each design feature please refer to the Design Strategy, page 8 and Land Based Activity, page 16. Management Biodiversity We have worked closely with Paddy Jenks of Aderyn Ecology to develop a site plan (Appendix 10.4) and management approach that places the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity as key goals for our design. We will ensure all existing semi-natural habitats are left undisturbed and enhanced where possible.

We have integrated additional landscape features, which are of high ecological value. Through careful design we have attempted to connect habitats on site and where possible link these to wider habitats.

Hedgerows and banks Our Ecological Report (Appendix 10.3) has identified the hedge banks as being rich in biodiversity. The hedge banks have also been identified as culturally and historically important in the baseline assessment using LANDMAP and In the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), “Carmarthenshire’s agricultural landscape is one of the defining features of the county. Species rich hedgerows with mature hedgerow trees are a significant landscape and historic feature”. Our land management plan will ensure that hedgebanks are conserved, maintained and improved in order to support LBAP species and provide important habitat, shelter, food supply, corridor routes for wildlife: insects, invertebrates, moths, birds and small mammals.

The hedgebanks will be managed lightly, with some minimal coppicing of trees. We will also look to reinstate the traditional management method of hedges laying, where appropriate. This will serve to bring more light into the hedgebank and improve biodiversity and functionality.

We will remove barbed wire from the banks and introduce more native perennial wild flowers, with care taken to choose those that thrive in this landscape. The incredibly high rabbit population in the hedge banks will also be managed using traditional methods to stop further damage and reduce the chances of wind-felled trees.

We will be installing approximately 850m of new hedgerows (500m of which will be banked) to provide shelter, visual screening and enhance site biodiversity Orchard and Scrub Orchards are considered to have high ecological value, were once a common sight across Carmarthenshire and are now noticeably absent from the landscape.

Our orchard trees will form the central part of an alley cropping system to support countless species of bird, invertebrate and wild flower. The land will be managed to certified organic standards, which have proven positive outcomes for wildlife. We will also employ traditional management practices, such as brash piles and returning pomace from pressings to the orchard – this will further enhance the benefits to wildlife.

Our alley cropping system will include species rich grassland, adjacent to orchard trees with a perennial scrubby under-story that we expect to support many of the species included in Carmarthenshire’s LBAP. It will also go some ways to restore a once traditional form of land use.

Woodland We will be planting just over a hectare of woodland trees, which will be under a traditional coppice with standards management system to provide timber for our heating fuel needs. Many of these will be native trees supporting many species of bird and invertebrate. In time we expect woodland flowers and herbs species to colonise this part of our site and we plan to introduce many species ourselves. Coppicing is a traditional management approach that creates diverse habitats due to the changing light levels found at different stages of the coppice rotation. The standards will support additional species associated with mature trees and many of the species included in the LBAP. We will install bat boxes in suitable locations in time.

Forest Garden This will provide an area of rich biodiversity, with over 150 species of flowering plant included here. The high diversity and minimal maintenance of this style of land use creates ideal conditions for many species whilst simultaneously producing large amounts of edible and medicinal produce. Forest gardens are often described as self-regulating. This means important maintenance requirements are managed via placement and function of the species found therein. For example; fertility levels are regulated by nitrogen fixing trees and mineral accumulating plants. We expect to see countless species of insect and bird in our forest garden.

43 Wetland habitats There are none currently on site. We have designed-in a network of ponds and wetland areas due to their important ecological role and low impact way of processing domestic waste and drought proofing our production systems.

Wet System We will process our domestic greywater in a WET System. This will provide a unique wetland habitat for countless species of insect and amphibious creatures. For example, planting Reedmace here provides important cover for frogs and toads. Planting Willow will provide a very important early nectar source for many species of bee. We could even see wetland bird species nesting here in time.

Ponds We will install 4 large ponds that will provide emergency water use for stock/ irrigation purposes. The plantings and landscaping associated with these features will be designed for the benefit of wildlife. For example, peripheral shelves will be installed around the ponds to provide areas for emergent and marginal plants, many of which will provide habitat and forage for a large variety of insect species.

Wild Flower Meadow We will be developing 4 acres of grassland on our site, with species rich mix. This will address the huge decline in wild flower meadows in the UK and offer a diverse, and exceptionally attractive habitat for insects and other invertebrates (including butterflies, bees, spiders and millipedes), birds and small mammals.

Following recommendations included in our ecology report we will be managing parts of our grassland purely for hay production, which involves minimal grazing time and the removal of cut material. This creates low fertility levels and therefore favours wildflowers, which would otherwise be outcompeted by more vigorous grasses.

Biodiversity Summary Throughout our design process and the development of our land based subsistence and enterprise models we have made the protection and enhancement of the ecology of the holding a priority.

Using Permaculture Design has allowed us to interface our own needs with the needs of other species. We have developed a production system and management approach, which regenerates the health of the soil and all other living systems whilst at the same time being incredibly productive.

Cultural Heritage There are no existing cultural or archaeological features on the site or close to the site that might be impacted by our proposals. Our plans will enhance the hedgerows, which are the most significant historic features of the site.

Landscape A Landscape and Visual Impact assessment of the site concludes: “Overall the proposal will have a minimal impact on the landscape character of the area, low and very localised visual intrusion into public views from the footpath passing through the site, very low if any intrusion into any private views and very limited intrusion into the

44 views from any local residential receptors, and then only from more than 0.6 km away. The proposal is already very well screened and the proposed wildlife enhancement measures and agroforestry planting will further increase this screening. The use of natural materials will blend the proposed structures into their surroundings and the designs proposed will sit modestly in their setting.”

Please see Appendix 10.8 for the Visual Impact Assessment

We have laid out a series of traditional land uses, which when managed using traditional management methods create a positive impact on the surrounding landscape.

All our structures including dwelling and access track have been sited to reduce the visual impact on our neighbours and the surrounding landscape. We have designed a dense network of hedges, shelterbelts and other plantings into the site to screen structures from view. Our dwelling and agricultural buildings will also be built using natural and traditional materials to further disguise their presence from view. They will be clustered in 2 zones to further minimise impact and reduce onsite movement. Our protected growing area is recessed into the bottom of the site and disguised by tall trees and the gradient of the land. Production We will reduce our broader environmental impact by meeting most of our basic needs from our immediate land base and earning a living from a small- scale land based enterprise.

Our local impact will be reduced further, by practicing a number of small-scale production methods. These will not only minimise our dependency on off- site inputs but also have a measurable positive impact on soil, plant and animal health. These focus largely on fertility management and responses to pest and disease pressure, which conventionally would require chemical intervention, huge financial outlay and 37 damage to the environment .

Our holding is and will continue to be certified organic by the Soil Association. In many ways OPD encourages a ‘beyond organic’ approach to production. Some of the management practices we will use include a closed loop fertility system based on the composting of animal and production waste. These will be disseminated via a mixture of compost teas, bio fertilisers and hot composts to allow small amounts of material to cover large areas38. Around 30% of all plant species will be chosen for their positive effect on soil fertility and we will aim for a minimum cultivation or ‘no dig39’ approach to our annual production to reduce soil carbon loss.

37 A good example of this is the agricultural chemical Glyphosate or Roundup, widely used in both rural and urban areas as a weed killer. This chemical is now banned in many countries due to massive concerns over the harm it can cause to soil health, water courses, animals and humans. There is an increasing body of scientific study relating to countless degenerative health disorders. It is alleged to be environmentally damaging to produce and expensive to spray requiring specialist equipment and PPE. 38 The ABC of Organic Agriculture, Jairo Restrepo 39 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-dig_gardening

45 Land Management Essential Criteria • The semi-natural habitats found on our holding will be conserved and enhanced through traditional management • Future plantings and their management will enhance biodiversity • The landscape will be enhance by traditional landscape features such as hedgerows, orchards, woodland and meadow • Buildings and structures will be recessed into the landscape and hidden from view by plantings to minimise visual impact from public vantage points. Land Management Contributory Criteria • The existing semi-natural habitats found on our holding will be extended, and linked on site and connected to off site habitats • The population of characteristic farmland birds will be significantly increased through new and appropriate habitat creation and conservation of existing habitat • Soil organic matter will be increased with the use of organic and appropriate small scale management techniques • Populations of pollinating insects will be significantly increased with establishment of over 4000 new trees and in excess of 400 species of flowering plant.

46 4.3. ENERGY AND WATER

Energy and Water Objective • To minimise and re-use, where possible, and meet our energy needs directly from the site. • To maximise resource efficiency with the creation of a robust energy & water system with diverse sources to increase resilience.

Background We are confident we will be able to produce all the energy we need from our site, by Year 5 of development.

Clare worked within the renewable energy sector for ten years, in both solar thermal and solar PV, including (successfully) lobbying with Solar Century40 for a solar energy grants programme.

We are familiar with the objective of reducing our energy needs, having spent many years looking at how to reduce our energy use and already boast a low energy load. We have previously lived off grid, so are experienced living this way.

40 Solar Century www.solarcentury.co.uk

47 ENERGY

Domestic Energy Overview Item Produced How to maximise efficiency by Lighting Solar PV 12V LEDs used throughout Space Passive Use of careful design including insulative construction heating Solar techniques & materials, efficient wood stove and use of Biomass high-efficiency technology, the use of draught lobbies, glazing with a low UV value Water Solar Efficient water cylinder, well insulated heating thermal Biomass Cooking Biomass More efficient cooking methods e.g. pressure cooker, recipes, straw box41, outdoor cooking on rocket stoves in summer and low-input processing: e.g. fermenting Phones Solar PV Installing/using 12V items where possible and using A+++ Computers, rated appliances Fridge, I- Keep fridge full and on lowest setting, use of ceramic pod + cooling equipment, cold store located near the dwelling speaker Borehole Solar PV Use passively harvested water where possible to reduce pump dependency on pumping Laundry In summer we’ll utilise a washing machine with the surplus energy supplied by our solar panels in summer. In winter we’ll revert to a hand cranked or bicycle powered system42

Domestic Electricity Demand The average UK household electricity consumption is given between 3100kWh43 and 3994 kWh44.

We estimate our domestic electricity demand will be 1001 kWh: 25-32% of than the national average. These figures have been worked out with the support of online 45 calculators.

41 A hay box, straw box, fireless cooker, insulation cooker, wonder oven or retained-heat cooker is a cooker that utilizes the heat of the food being cooked to complete the cooking process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haybox 42 https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/505810601869944622 https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/505810601869944075 43 https://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/news-and-views/what-is-the-average-energy-bill-in-the-uk/ 44 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-consumption-in-the-uk 45 http://www.bimblesolar.com/solarcalc and https://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/start-here/offgrid- calculator#applianceTable and https://solarpowerrocks.com/solar-basics/how-much-electricity-does-a-solar-panel- produce/

48 Table outlining electricity requirements

Item Needing Energy kWh April-Sept kWh Oct-March Lighting 0.17 0.62 Computers charging x 2 0.24 0.24 Phones charging x 2 0.01 0.01 I-pod + speaker charging 0.02 0.02 Fridge 1.72 0 Washing Machine 1.4 0 total kWh 3.5 0.89 kWh need with inefficiency loss factored in 4.39 1.166 daily kWh requirement 4.4 1.16 1.01kW solar system will produce 6.5 1.5 * Fridge will only be needed in the summer months, in the winter months using ceramic pots and our cold store/larder will be sufficient. In winter we will not have enough energy to use a washing machine Meeting Domestic Electricity Demand We will install a 1.01kW system on our dwelling roof with a 610Ah battery bank system using charge-controlling equipment to ensure the most efficient use of energy produced and an inverter to convert 12v to 240v for any appliance, which requires 240v. Domestic Heating Demand We will provide 100% of our domestic heating demand from a combination of solar thermal and biomass, with energy efficiency design methods and systems utilised to reduce our energy need.

Water and Space Heating We will install a solar water heating system for domestic hot water, with a biomass heat source for winter use. Our biomass will be supplied from our coppice. Refer to Design Strategy for more information on our coppice, page 10.

Cooking We will install an efficient cooking range requiring small diameter logs that will also supply heat to the home in winter. We will utilise a Hay Box, which will reduce our energy need, as will the use of a pressure cooker. In summer we eat much more raw food reducing our need to cook, and we will cook outside using rocket-stove technology46 to further reduce our energy need.

The average UK household gas consumption is given as 13,983 kWh5. As we will not be using gas at all to heat our home, heat our water, or do our cooking we’ll use 100% less gas than the national average.

Our estimated total biomass need for cooking, space and water heating is 5 tonnes of biomass, which will be supplied totally from our coppice systems.

46 A rocket stove is an efficient and hot burning stove using small-diameter wood fuel. Feld tests in India, rocket stoves used 18 to 35 per cent less fuel compared to the traditional stoves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_stove

49 Non-Domestic Energy

Item needing energy Produced by How to maximise efficiency Lighting: barns Solar PV • Using 12v LEDs • Design building to bring in natural light for daytime use Power tools for Solar PV • Use battery-system equipment to be woodland, agricultural, charged from renewable sources horticultural • management Borehole pump Solar PV Pump occasionally to fill large water storage tanks Fridge: dairy Solar PV Use high efficiency fridge designed specifically for use with solar 2-wheeled tractor Diesel 20litres/yr Regular maintenance, using bio-diesel

Item Needing Energy kWh in Summer: kWh in Winter: April-September October-March Barn Lighting 0.06 0.18 Borehole pump* 0.55 0.55 Power tool charge 0.48 0.48 Fridge: dairy 1.72 1.72 Freezer: fruit for juicing 1.72 0 Total kWh 4.53 2.93 kWh with inefficiency loss factored in 5.57 3.60 (+23%) daily energy need kWh 5.6 3.6 2.49kWh solar system will produce 16.5 3.7 * Borehole power is in with non-domestic demand, as it will be powered by the solar system fitted to the barn, close to the borehole: the most efficient way to use solar energy is to site the solar panels close to the point of need. Meeting Non-Domestic Electricity Demand We will install a 2.49kW system on the roof of our cow shed to feed a 540Ah battery bank system using charge-controlling equipment to ensure the most efficient use of energy produced and an inverter to convert 12v to 240v for any appliance, which requires 240v.

Based on Weather Station Figures in taken for Crymych - the closest weather station to our site - on average there are 1.5 hours of sunshine in the winter and 6.5 hours of sunshine in summer.

Solar PV system: This will be sized to compensate for efficiency loss (+23%) and oversized by a further 30% to cater for potential poor climate conditions. The embodied energy for the solar pv 2-4 years,47 which means that the panels will produce 10-20 more energy than they took to make.

47 https://www.heetma.org/2015/04/embodied-energy-in-photovoltaic-panels/

50 WATER

Domestic Water By domestic water we mean water needed for our dwelling – for drinking, cooking, washing, laundry. We will supply all our domestic water from a borehole. All water will be treated using the regulated procedures and be held in storage tanks larger than our normal day-day need to help increase resilience.

We estimate that our water use for domestic supply will be: 39,156 litres. This equates to 33% of the national average. South West Water puts national average at 120,000 litres/120m3 for a 3-person house.48

Item Source Litres required How to maximise Per Per efficiency week annum Drinking water • Borehole • 40 • 2,080 • Utilise storage tanks • Spring water • Only use spring water (emergency only) in emergency Personal Hygiene • Borehole 56 2,912 • Storage tanks Bath/Shower 452 23,504• No flushing toilet system Washing up • Borehole • 112 • 5,824 • Have sink-washes Laundry • Borehole • 93 • 4,836 • • TOTAL • 753 • 39,156 • National Average• • 120,000• 33% of national average

Borehole We intend to take our domestic water supply from a borehole. Our domestic demand will equal 39,156 litres/39m3 per year. Natural Resource Wales only require consent to investigate the groundwater source and a license for water abstraction for levels above 20m3 per day49 so we won’t need to seek consent or a license.

Storage tanks We will pump and store borehole water in approved potable water storage tank, sized with extra contingency (1 x 10,000litre tank), to ensure we always have enough water to meet our annual estimated needs, even in times of drought.

48 The average annual use for different sized households based on the number of occupiers. The average has been calculated based on regular use of a washing machine and dishwasher and regular baths or showers http://southwestwater.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/208/~/what-is-the-average-use-per-household-on-a- meter%3F 49 https://naturalresources.wales/media/677629/guidance_note_wrc_groundwater_investigation_consent- section32.pdf

Non Domestic Water We will create water self sufficiency and resilience for our land based activity with careful planning and design to capture, store and flow water to areas of need using minimal energy and a range of water source/catchment.

Item Litres required Water • Water catchment• Water storage incl 20% source capacity pa contingency • annual (litres) pa Field Crops • Rainwater: we don’t anticipate needing to irrigate field • Ponds crops as we will use deep mulch, thus conserving soil • for emergency moisture. irrigation Polytunnel 247,20050 Rainwater harvesting 585,120 Storage tanks crops Polytunnel roofs 42% more than 4 x Ponds • Barn Roof x 2 requirement Dwelling • 3,600 • Rainwater • • 3 x 1000litre garden harvesting dwelling IBCs roof • Pond for overspill Livestock • 48,44651 • Spring (borehole as• • Storage tank, back-up) Ponds

Rainwater Harvesting52 We will aim to have significant rainwater harvesting across the site, with efficient rainwater collection systems installed on all structures on site, fed into storage tanks, which will be significantly over-sized to harvest as much rainwater as possible.

Rainwater collection data is based on Weather Station Figures taken in Ceredigion in 2010-15, where there are annual average of 920mm rainwater.

Storage tanks We intend to use approved potable water storage tanks, sized with extra contingency (3 x 10,000litre tanks) to ensure we always have enough water to meet our annual estimated needs, even in times of drought.

50 Water requirements for our polytunnels includes a 20% contingency 51 Livestock calculations based on 1 x small milking cow, 1 x 2-yr small cow, 2 x weaner pigs, 20 laying fowl. https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/water-advice-livestock-farmers 52 Rainwater harvesting calculations based on actual weather data and formula Roof Area (m2) X Precipitation Amount (mm) = Amount Collected (liters) https://www.watercache.com/resources/rainwater-collection-calculator

52 Landscape catchment We plan to passively catch and store water in the landscape, with the use of a strategically constructed system of ponds, swales and ditches, to maximise use of gravity to move water to where it’s needed.

Ditches, Earthworks and Keyline Design Our alley cropping system has been laid out using key-line design, aiming to control the flow of water through the site by working just against contour patterns. Water can thus be moved from areas of deposition to areas prone to drought. We aim to reduce the sheet flow of water across the site which can cause erosion and water logging with minimal earthworks and ditches laid out in similar landscape pattern.

Ponds We will create 3 ponds on the site, equaling 600m2. These will hold water for irrigation purpose and will also serve to hugely improve biodiversity. Ponds can support an immense number of plants and animals – more than 100 UK BAP priority species are associated with them.53

Spring water We have permitted access to a water supply that is sourced from a spring on a nearby farm, which supplies 3 other local residences. This water will be used for supplying animal troughs only. It would be used as an emergency back-up for domestic supply, should other water sources become problematic.

NB. We will consult with professional Borehole Installers, and other water systems contractors to help with the implementation of our water systems.

Flood Risk According to Natural Resource Wales, our OPD site is not in Flood Risk zone. Our site design will contribute to wider flood reduction through passively slowing, sinking and retaining water in the landscape with the catchment systems detailed above and with good soil and pasture management practices. In this way regenerative agriculture can slow water on its journey to rivers and take off the pressure from lowland areas further downriver that are at risk of flooding.

Energy & Water Essential criteria

Energy. By year 5 • The energy needs of the site will be minimised to levels equating to 32% of the national average • 100% of the electricity needs will be sourced from PV Solar: a renewable source of energy, on site • 100% of heating needs of the site will be met from solar thermal and biomass (timber) produced on site using suitable design and building materials to minimise heat need, and through choice of high efficiency heating technology • 100% of cooking fuel will come from timber grown on site, with no gas used.

53 http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/habitats/ponds

53 Water. By year 5 • 100% domestic water needs will be met from a borehole with levels equating to 0.5% of the annual abstraction levels that would require consent or license from Natural Resource Wales • 100% its horticultural and agricultural water needs will be met from rainwater harvesting (from all structures) and water catchment in the landscape (ponds, ditches, swales, greywater).

Energy & Water Contributory criteria

Energy • The payback on Solar PV is four years, with a generation expectation of 30 years, so the embodied energy of the renewable energy equipment will not outweigh the benefits. • Human labour will be used predominantly across the site.

• Water • Water pumping, from the borehole, will be powered by Solar PV. Water movement around the site will mostly be done with the use of gravity, with emergency use of Solar PV to power pumps to move water from ponds to water storage tanks. • All landscape catchments ponds will be designed to maximise habitat creation, with more than 100 UK BAP priority species associated with ponds, and will not destroy any existing habitats by being built.

54 4.4. Waste Waste Objective All waste produced should be assimilated on site, in environmentally sustainable ways, other than very small amounts of unavoidable non-biodegradable or hazardous wastes.

Waste Overview Waste Item Assimilation Re-use/Recycle off-site process Non- Compost Land fertility cooked system scraps: Fruit/veg none Domestic food Cooked Vermiculture Land fertility waste food + (wormery) meat

Grey water Wetland Fertility crops none system Human waste / urine Dry twin Fertility for non-primary none chamber food crops after compost toilet appropriate time lag Biodegradable Compost Land fertility Local recycling Packaging/paper system schemes recyclable Minimised Reused onsite where Local recycling goods possible or Recycled schemes/Civic e.g. glass offsite amenity centre Non- biodegradable: non- We will dispose of any Civic amenity recyclable non recyclable waste in centre goods e.g. a responsible and old shoes, mindful way in line with unfixable legislation appliances Green/horticultural Livestock feed Livestock feed none Biochar Fuel/soil improvement Livestock manure Compost Land Fertility none

Domestic food waste Our diet will be predominantly vegetarian with some meat eaten. All will be biodegradable making this compostable and reused as useful land fertility. We will employ a number of composting techniques and systems to allow us to assimilate 100%

55 of our food waste on site. This will be purpose built compost piles and vermiculture.54 Care will be taken around the ratios of contents to allow healthy microbial growth and an efficient composting system.

Grey water All grey water will be directed through a wetland system of swales and ditches and will feed non-consumable crops such as willow and comfrey. Willow will be used as a craft material to make baskets. Comfrey will be used as livestock feed and compost/mulch for non-primary food sources e.g. around the base of trees.

Human waste/urine This will be processed using a water-less system, which separates urine from solids and stores them into separate areas. Human solids will be composted above ground for suitable amounts of time to allow for the composting process to metabolise pathogens and then used as a fertility source for non-food crops. We will plan and manage our sanitation collection and processing in methods that adhere to environmental and sanitation standards, and employ ecological methods that serve to enhance soils and fertility without risking harm to the environment

Packaging/paper We are used to keeping our paper/packaging waste to a minimum as we make purchasing choices that minimise packaging and paper. We would anticipate that our use of these items would reduce again over the initial five years of consent, and again beyond this time. If suitable, we will use paper/packaging to light domestic heating fires, and add it to our compost system. Jars and others containers can be reused for miscellaneous purposes. Growing much of our own food on site will again reduce our food packaging waste. There will inevitably be those items that cannot be assimilated onsite and we would aim to stock-pile any of these items to minimise journeys to the civic amenity site, just two miles up the road.

Green waste By green waste, we mean horticultural waste: weeds, crop waste, grade outs, processing waste. This will be composted in our composting system near the produce garden, which will be used to aid fertility in our growing areas across the site. Woody green waste will be composted separately as this takes longer to breakdown to a usable medium, than other green waste. Some green waste will be used as fodder for livestock.

54 vermiculture is the product of the composting process using various species of worms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost

Livestock manure We aim to use a deep bedding system55 for our livestock. The benefits are increased livestock health56 keeping animals cleaner and warmer in winter and reduced daily maintenance. This also means we do not store the manure outside which avoids the issue of leaching. To further address this we won’t spread muck in winter or before heavy rains.

Non-biodegradable goods Though we will be minimising our use of non-biodegradable items and therefore the amount of non-biodegradable waste, there will inevitably be some that we cannot avoid, for example, old work boots worn out in time, or broken and unfixable tools. We will endeavour to re-use or fix things that are broken, and in some circumstances this will just not be possible. In these rare cases we will utilise the local Civic Amenity Centre, at Hermon, 2 miles away.

Meeting Waste Essential Criteria • All bio-degradable waste produced on site will be assimilated on site using composting and greywater systems, to allow waste to be transformed into a resource for use on the site. • Only items that cannot be fixed will be disposed of off-site at local Civic Amenity Centre • All waste handling will be handled and assimilated in accordance with Environment Agency guidelines.

Meeting Waste Contributory Criteria • All organic waste will be used to increase overall site fertility and productivity, with greywater and composting systems allowing us to transform organic waste into land resource.

55 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_litter 56 Udder is better supplied with blood, the cow has more time for rumination, the musculoskeletal system is relieved and the hoofs can dry. http://jhagro.com/deep-litter/

57 5. ZERO CARBON BUILDINGS

Objective We will construct all residential, ancillary and agricultural structures on site using minimal energy. All structures will be zero carbon and in line with the Welsh Assembly’s aspirations around low impact buildings.

The OPD Practise Guidance Technical Advice Note 6, Oct 2012, states that all buildings subject to building regulations should be zero carbon in construction. One Planet Developments should be exemplars of Welsh Government’s zero carbon aspiration and achieve zero carbon status in terms of construction and use of the development.

Components

Domestic Zero Carbon in construction. Our residential dwelling will be constructed to a specification that falls under the definition of the Caravan Act. Please see page 63 for our statement on this decision. As such the dwelling will not be subject to building regulation control. We have not provided a CfSH assessment, as it is not technically necessary to do so with a structure built under the Caravan Act. However, we feel its important to demonstrate that we are fully committed to the ethos of the One Planet planning policy, of living in a sustainable way, minimising our environmental impact and meeting zero carbon standards. We have indicated what materials will be used to construct our dwelling, how they ensure we build an energy efficient dwelling fit for purpose with minimal environmental impact and how the materials will be sourced ethically and sustainably.

Our dwelling will be fit for purpose with minimal environmental impact as • It facilitates a much greater flexibility for a simple, low-impact structure, with a lighter touch on the land. It also allows faster construction minimising the need for temporary accommodation, which can then be removed much more quickly • It is more economical to build and allows the use of more reclaimed materials. It is also quicker, easier and more economic to dismantle and remove from the site in the event of the exit strategy being triggered • It will be designed to sit above the ground on minimal foundations, with the exterior clad in timber allowing it to blend naturally into the landscape, and situated in a location with our orchard, coppice, and windbreaks planted to create visual screen • We will keep environmental impact of the process of building the dwelling to a minimum, using the lowest amount of heavy machinery as possible, with the vast amount of work being done by ourselves, and only occasional off-site input from electrical, plumbing and building professionals.

58 Materials Specification Table: Dwelling Material choice Source

Roof Corroline sheeting DP Building Supplies Cellotex Insulation 2nd hand Timber baton Growing Heart Co-op, Boncarth External Walls Wood fibre board Ty Mawr Timber Cladding Growing Heart Co-op, Boncarth Clay plaster Our site Internal Walls Wood fibre board Ty Mawr Clay plaster On site Floors Timber floorboards Growing Heart Co-op, Boncarth Cellotex Insulation Recycled Windows & Doors Double glazing Local: Recycled, reclaimed or 2nd hand Foundations Stone (local) Glogue Quarry, Crymych

Please see Appendix 10.14 detailing how the materials used for constructing the dwelling will allow an energy efficient building that meets BRE Standards.

Zero carbon in use At the time of writing this application the Welsh Assembly is still consulting on the definition for zero carbon. The Tan 22 Planning for Sustainable Buildings does give clear guidance on achieving low and zero carbon design. In line with what is outlined there, we have reduced the energy demand of our dwelling, ensured energy efficiency and employed low and zero carbon technologies to minimise our carbon and ecological footprint.

We have achieved a reduction in our energy demand through passive design of the dwelling with • passive solar heating through orientation of dwelling and strategic placement of windows to the south • passive cooling with strategic placement of skylights and doors/windows for air flow • natural light maximised with strategic use of skylights and large floor-ceiling windows to the south with the use of shutters to limit heat in summer

We have ensured energy efficiency with thorough design and choice of materials • highly insulative building materials • double glazing • draft lobbies • small windows to the north.

We will use low and zero carbon energy technologies with the installation of • Solar photovoltaic energy for electricity • Solar thermal energy for hot water • Biomass for heating and cooking with biomass grown on site

The methods we are using are fully supported by the Tan 22 as outlined below.

60 Ancillary

Zero Carbon in Construction Just as the dwelling, these structures will be constructed from ethically and sustainably sourced local and natural materials, and recycled, reclaimed or second- hand where possible, and be zero carbon.

Wood store Material choice Source 3 x external walls: timber frame, cladding Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath Roof: timber Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath Roof: coroline sheeting Local Floor: rammed earth On-site

Cold store Material choice Source Walls: Stone & earth Glogue Quarry, Crymych & on-site Roof: timber Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath Roof: earth On-site: soil dug out to form track Floor: rammed earth On-site Light pipe Skylight Repairs, Carmarthanshire Door Reclaimed, recycled or 2nd hand

Storage and processing barn Material choice Source Foundation: recycled building rubble Lawrence Landfill, Haverfordwest External walls: Timber frame and cladding Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath Internal walls: timber stud Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath Floor: Rammed earth On-site Floor: plywood covered with salvaged tiles DP Building Supplies + Rob Thomas Reclamation, Carmarthen Roof: Corrugated DP Building Supplies Windows + Doors Local: Recycled, reclaimed or 2nd hand

Workshop Material choice Source External walls: Timber frame and cladding Growing Heart Co-op, Boncarth Box section Roofing + Insulation Reclaimed roofing + 2nd hand cellotex Floor: rammed earth On site Windows: double glazing + Doors Local: Recycled, reclaimed or 2nd hand

Existing buildings on site There is an existing barn on site, which was built by the previous owners with full planning permission and was used as a stable block for horses. It is built with oak frame, rendered concrete block and welsh slate roof on a concrete pad. We will convert this building into our diary. With stalls for two cows, room for our diary processing room, and one room for borehole equipment and associated diary storeroom. We will extend this building to allow for a covered open air area for winter stalling, and hay/grain storage.

Extension to Existing Barn Material choice Source External walls timber stud frame + Growing Heart Co-op, Boncath cladding Roof: reclaimed slate Slatetrader, Llanelli Floor: rammed earth On-site Door: local Reclaimed, recycled or 2nd hand

Zero Carbon in Use None of the ancillary buildings will be heated. All buildings will be orientated to take advantage of passive heating, passive cooling and natural light. Where additional lighting or power is needed, this will be supplied by solar photovoltaics.

Capability of removal with low and minimal environmental impact

Dwelling • Simple construction, easily dismantled with valuable parts e.g. windows is easily separated, salvaged, removed from site for recycling or reuse elsewhere • Use of mostly natural materials that can be assimilated into the site • Minimal foundations of locally sourced stone, can be left on site or dismantled with small scale machinery

Ancillary Wood store This will be made from entirely natural materials so can be easily dismantled and assimilated onsite.

Cold store This will be made from entirely natural materials so can be easily dismantled and assimilated onsite.

Processing Barn • Simple construction, easily dismantled with valuable parts e.g. windows can be easily separated, salvaged and removed from site for recycling or reuse elsewhere. • Minimal foundations of recycled building waste (rubble), can be left on site or dismantled with small scale machinery

Workshop This will be mostly made from natural materials, which can be easily dismantled and assimilated onsite. Any materials that cannot be assimilated, i.e. windows can be easily separated, salvaged and removed from site for recycling or reuse elsewhere.

62 Zero Carbon Buildings

Essential Criteria • Domestic and ancillary buildings will meet zero carbon targets (significant reduction in carbon) in construction in line with Tan22 Planning for Sustainable Homes. • None of our building require building regulations so no approval is required before or during construction yet we feel it is important to use construction materials in line with the BRE Green Guide energy rating scheme • All structures and materials used are easily dismantled and either returned to the land, with no negative environmental impact, or removed from site for reuse elsewhere.

Contributory Criteria • Recycled or reclaimed materials will be used wherever possible ensuring none all satisfy essential criteria • The existing barn on site fits into agricultural standards and visual impact is not unsightly, and is hidden from the road and other nearby residencies. It was used as a stable for horses and will be reinvented as a building for housing cows over winter, milking and a dairy room.

Justification for Building under the Caravan Act 1. In order to meet the ethos of the One Planet Development, we feel that using recycled, reclaimed and second-hand materials that are ethically and sustainably sourced and from small local suppliers, is paramount. Many local small suppliers and second hand materials will not have the necessary CfSH certification, so the materials sourced cannot be assessable, despite the ethical and sustainable way in which they are grown, harvested and/or supplied.

2. Current Building Regulations state that all new residential buildings must now install sprinkler systems. These systems require mains pressure water to work. Due to the off-grid requirement of our One Planet Development mains water pressure is not possible. We cannot create mains type pressure without expensive, energy intensive pumping and pressurizing equipment, nor installing a much larger (and more expensive) solar system and battery bank, which would push our Ecological Footprint (gha) up.

3. We feel building a modest and limited structure under the Caravan Act is the best way to reduce our environmental and visual impact, and allows the most efficient and effective exit strategy.

63 6. COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT Objective To ensure we have positive impacts on the local community, both socially and economically, and to creatively mitigate any potential negative impacts

Background. We have always been active members of the communities in which we have lived and also have experience of living in an intentional community. Professionally we have many years experience of the Community Development sector and have collectively been involved in over 10 successful community led projects We understand what is needed to help build strong communities where all residents are valued, heard, supported, with mutual benefits ensuing.

In May 2017 we held a community consultation event hosted in a neighbours’ barn. This meeting was attended by approximately twenty-five individuals including two, local councillors. We introduced ourselves, the OPD framework and presented our site plans and enterprise ideas. It was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know us and ask questions regarding our plans. So far, we have heard nothing but support, with local people welcoming us into the community. With an aging population, the influx of younger people, some with families, is seen as a positive step for the community in a number of ways. Many local people are passionate about local wildlife and see OPD as a great way to regenerate and protect the ecology of the area. Additionally small producers/farmers are seen as an important part of the fabric of rural communities and the local economy.

We are especially attracted to the area, due to the (growing) number of similar OPD undertakings. This allows us to join a network of mutually supporting residencies, with benefits including bartering, working collaboratively and jointly owned equipment e.g. delivery vehicle, cultivation equipment. We have already begun this process with us growing trees (at our current residence in Devon), and supplying these to another local OPD project to support their development. We are keen to explore shared delivery of produce, to enable reduced vehicle journeys.

64 Community Impact Review We have completed an assessment of our impact and presented it in this table below.

Impact Positive Negative with mitigation

Public This is already in place, and we Plant hedging to define the route and Right of will improve and maintain reduce any visual impact of our Way access, infrastructure, development boundaries

Social • We’ll hold seasonal events • Attendees will be mostly local and open days to build which will minimise need for community relations transport • Clare plans to join the local • Take advantage of opportunities WI and other local for shared school runs/ using clubs/groups of interest school bus to minimise transport • Our son will attend a local need school Visual • All buildings placed to ensure they are obscured from view from neighbours through use of natural features and new strategically placed plantings of trees and hedgerows • Existing views into the valley from neighbouring homes will be maintained (to meet concern). • All buildings will be constructed from natural materials chosen to help structures to merge into the natural environment • All efforts will be taken to improve aesthetic appearance Transport • We have one family vehicle • We will limit our journeys on-off • Shared access with site, by combining trips, sharing neighbouring farm transport. Producing much of our own produce will significantly reduce need to travel to shops • During development phase laying temporary tracking across neighbouring fields to reduce movement along shared track and mitigate neighbour’s concern • The implementation of a sustainable transport/travel plan. See page 67 Economic • Engaging with local business • Provide niche produce and value as supplier and customer added produce to reduce • Selling our produce locally negative impact on other local • Employ local trades people producers

65 in set-up phase, utilising • Collaborate with other local people for jobs outside our producers own skill set e.g. • Supply local shops with our groundworks, track laying, produce to help reduce their

fencing installation ecological footprint for additional • Employ local trades people local-value to their business beyond set-up phase for • Like to be part of wider network specialist maintenance of land based enterprise, not just tasks, veterinary care low-impact, with internal trade

• Collaborate with other local and external networks producers

Resource • We will be a source of • This will be for local people to information / learning on gain a better understanding of sustainable living OPD and the principles behind sustainable living • The occasional course for a wider network. • Provide many learning resources online.

Essential criteria • A thorough assessment of impacts on the local community has been completed with direct liaison with local residents to understand concerns and mitigate negative impacts appropriately

Contributory criteria • Our son will attend a local school, we will become involved in local already established networks e.g. WI and attend local clubs of interest e.g swimming pools • We will open our site up for seasonal community events and occasions over the year to build social community cohesion • We will shop and use amenities locally • We will supply local shops and stores with our produce.

66 7. TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL PLAN Travel Objective To significantly reduce the environmental impacts of our transport by reducing the need to travel, by favouring low carbon or carbon neutral modes of transport where possible and minimise impact of travel from visitors.

Baseline We currently visit the site occasionally during school holidays when we travel from our home in North Devon and stay locally. This is to become acquainted with the land and neighbours and perform some basic maintenance tasks to the barn and hedgerows/fencing. Additionally, we have appointed a local contractor to cut the grass twice a year.

The site is accessed over a shared private track spurred off a council maintained road. This runs north to Glandwr and south to Efailwen and the A478. The 430 bus route runs along the A478 between Narberth and Cardigan, with the nearest bus stop 2 miles away. There is a monthly bus through Hebron.

The Green Dragon Community bus operates in the area and offers services to Narberth and Cardigan as well as day hire of a car via the Community Car Club.

In Clunderwen 6 miles away, there is a train station with connections to Carmarthen and beyond.

Transport Assessment In the initial set up stage, of 5 years, we would expect a higher level travel and transport associated with the site than the low levels we will achieve long term. This is to allow the infrastructure to be developed, which requires delivery of materials and some heavy machinery to do land works e.g. track building, pond creation. This aspect is an inevitable and unavoidable, yet temporary, aspect of any new development, low impact or not. However, we will remain mindful of the impact of transport and will endeavour to minimise transport needs with: • bulk deliveries • having multiple tasks requiring machinery to done concurrently to reduce number of times such equipment is needed on site. • shared deliveries with local OPDers – we have already done this with a joint delivery of timber for fencing with another development just 2 miles away • ordering different materials from the same supplier, prioritising local suppliers where possible

Our assessment is based on our intentions for Year 5, when initial set up and infrastructure phase is complete, and beyond.

Residential Assessment Historically, our main transport use was to commute to work, purchase food and visit family and friends. Long distance travel has been conducted in our own vehicle due to the often prohibitive costs of using trains.

67 At year 5 once we are dwelling on our holding and operating a business from there we expect our transport use to be significantly reduced. We will no longer have to commute to work and as the majority of our food needs will be produced by ourselves on our holding, trips to the shops will be few in number.

The majority of our bought in food will be dried goods and wholefoods, which can be bought in and delivered in bulk. We will aim to combine bulk orders with other local people, e.g. several of our friends have bulk deliveries. So we will need to do even less shopping. Any purchase of non-bulk goods can be purchased at our closest shop, about 1 mile away and an enjoyable cycle journey – we are keen cyclists, or combined in the school run journey.

Our son will attend the local school in Tegryn and although this will require two daily journeys to drop off and collect we are keen to lift share with other local families whose children also attend the school. We estimate that we will do 3/5 of the school runs. We have also been informed that parents are trying to set up a bus service from nearby Glandwr, which would further reduce our travel needs.

We intend to run a small, fuel-efficient van as our domestic and commercial vehicle and will use this for local trips and deliveries.

We will endeavor to travel on foot or by bicycle to local services and for local social activity – the local shops and our friends in the area are mostly located within a 1- mile radius, making this plausible and entirely possible. We will encourage social visitors to arrive on foot or bicycle where possible.

We will visit family and friends not in the local area and across the UK a small number of times a year.

Enterprise Assessment Where possible we will market our various products through existing retailers in the area. This will ensure local people will benefit from our products and will also have a positive effect on our travel and delivery impact.

We will ensure multiple deliveries are made on the same journey and are keen to cooperate with others on shared delivery scheme should there be interest to do so.

Some of our produce will be marketed online and delivered to further afield. We will make use of Royal Mail and national couriers, which collect from our local Post Office at Glandy Cross, approximately 2 miles away. These trips will be coordinated with our local delivery trips.

Visitors We will plan long distance trips to visit friends and family and we envisage these to take place 4 times per year. Where possible we intend to use public transport. Likewise when friends and family come to us we will encourage them to make use of public transport. We will happily collect visitors from local train and bus stations and would attempt to coincide this with deliveries.

68 We are committed to sharing our experience of low impact living, agriculture and permaculture, in order to help others learn, to increase knowledge of One Planet ideals and hopefully encourage more to live a low impact lifestyle. So, we plan to have small numbers volunteers on site during the growing season. We will favour those wishing to stay for 1 month or more, those that have been volunteering with other OPDs in the area, those who can come via public transport and will not accept those who come from overseas just to volunteer with us. We will encourage volunteers to use public transport, and combine deliveries with any drop-offs for them to explore the local area.

Our seasonal open days, approximately three per year, will be an important part of our role in the community and an opportunity for us to show hospitality to local people. Visitors in such instances would hopefully be from the immediate locality with those coming from further afield encouraged to lift share and use bus services.

Parking for visitors The area of hard standing to the north of our dwelling would normally be allocated for our vehicle, a visitor vehicle and turning circle. We envisage that this could accommodate up to 4 vehicles for our seasonal open days. There will be an additional hard standing in front of both barns, for loading goods for sale, processing works that could be allocated to temporary parking for a further 3 vehicles on this occasions. The tables that follow outline and analyze our (estimated) transport needs, with a column outlining our planned management plan to reduce and mitigate the transport impact of our site. Our estimations are informed by upon current travel, national journey/transport averages, and by aspects of our business and management plan. We have completed a review of transport and travel, looking at the trips and created a management/mitigation strategy and detail this in the table below.

69 Table: Transport Assessment and Travel Plan

What Trip* p.a Management/Mitigation Strategy Residents Total trips: 530 School run Based on attending 444 Share school run with other parents, assume we do 37 weeks in the year 3/5 days Food 1 monthly shopping 0 Coincide with deliveries needs trip to Crymych 4 annual bulk 8 Join local bulk delivery schemes deliveries Social visiting Wiltshire 8 Public transport will not be viable due to the large family Midlands distances and disjointed train network visit Bristol: 3 4 Using trains when traveling to Bristol friends Devon 2 20 annual local: social 40 and children’s 12 annual local events 24 Go by bike or on foot or lift share where possible

Enterprise Total trips: 224 Deliverie Weekly to Narberth 100 Combine with other duties, liftsharing, school run s to retail Weekly trip Crymych & 100 outlets Cardigan Postal Weekly to Glandy 0 Combine with delivery trips, other duties, lift sharing orders/ Cross courier Stalls at 6 annual events 12 Lift share with other local producers, cooperative stall produce regional management reducing trips markets Receipt 6 annual deliveries: not 12 Buying in bulk of goods ours Visitors Total trips 208 Non-local 6 12 Encourage lift sharing or use of public transport – we friends can collect from train station where possible. family 4 8 Encourage use of public transport where possible. James’ family travel by train as have no vehicle local 3 per week 0 Local: travel on foot/by bicycle friends 2 per week 4 Within 10 miles Volunteer during summer 24 Favour those who come by public transport Visits Weekly for volunteer 0 Combine with other journey e.g. school run/deliveries, provisions/explore encourage use of bike and public transport local area 2 Annual 20 visitors per open 160 From local community, so many will be on foot or open days day short car/bike journey away Will encourage use of public transport and lift sharing for further afield visitors * Trip is defined as a 1-way course of travel with a single main purpose.

Comparing with the national average figures

Annual Trips The average number of annual journeys in the UK is 692 per person. So for 2-driver household the average number of annual journey is 1384.

We estimate the number of trips associated with our site for both driving adults combined is 754. So assuming we will split the driving between us, our individual trips will equal 377, which is 54% of the national average. Annual Mileage The average miles for residents of rural town fringes per person per year is 4863, so for 2 driving adults is 9,726.

Currently, our combined annual mileage is 7,392. This already equates to 76% of the national average. Our estimated domestic annual mileage for Year 5 is 5320. This equates to 29% reduction from our current mileage and 55% of the national average.

Source for traffic statistics: ONS National Travel Survey 2016 and DfT statistics: Road Traffic Estimates Great Britain 2016

We will reduce our transport impact and our reliance on the use of vehicles by: • reducing the number of journeys and combining journeys • utilising lift sharing, shared deliveries locally • bulk deliveries, courier and Post Office for non-local deliveries to and from us • use of carbon neutral methods of transport: on foot and by bicycle • use of public transport where possible

We will record and monitor travel associated with the site, and assess our transport impact annually, in order to make sure we are meeting our aims, and review how we could make further savings and efficiencies on transport and further reductions in impact.

71 Travel and Transport Essential Criteria Our Transport Assessment and Travel plan indicates that • We have monitored all trips to and from the site • We will achieve a significant reduction in transport impacts from all activities on site for residents, enterprise: the total number of trips associated with our site will equal 55% of the national average, our total mileage will equal 54% of the national average. • We have a strategy in place to reduce the impact of visitors to the site. Contributory Criteria • We will use low carbon or carbon neutral modes of transport wherever possible • We will have one vehicle that will be used for our residential, enterprise and social transport needs • We will prioritise local suppliers and customers and minimise goods that must be despatched further afield • We will be actively encouraging visitors to the site to reduce their impact by choosing to arrive by foot, bicycle, public transport, or lift sharing. Many of our social visitors will be local to the village or nearby villages within easy walking/cycling distance.

72 8. PHASING, MONITORING AND EXIT STRATEGY We shall commence development of the site once planning consent has been granted. Pending a summer submission we shall assume this to be Winter 2017; we shall plan to begin Spring 2018. The phasing of the development will run as detailed below. 2018/ Year 1 • Site in static caravan for temporary accommodation • Conduct groundwork’s to install tracks, hard standing, WET system and ponds • Erect frame and finish exterior of dwelling (frame will be constructed and dry fitted offsite at start of the year) • Install polytunnel frame • Plant shelterbelts/ hedging/ coppice trees.

2019/Year 2 • Install borehole, rainwater catchment, irrigation • Complete interior of dwelling • Complete polytunnel • Set up plant nursery for raising of stock • Plant fruit trees in alley cropping/ forest garden • Bring in poultry • Prepare ground for cultivated areas.

2020/Year 3 • Build barn, workshop extend cow shed • Begin planting of perennials in alley cropping, forest garden and garden • Continue plant raising • Complete planting of trees/ shrubs • Begin production of food supply • Begin marketing/ branding.

2021/Year 4 • Begin trade • Bring in cattle and pigs • Continue raising and planting herbaceous plants.

2022/Year 5 • Continue plant raising and planting of herbaceous perennials • Greenhouse, main garden in full production and 60% of alley crop herbs • 65% of basic needs and all income needs met on site.

Monitoring We shall submit an annual monitoring report based upon the criteria set out in the guidance notes. An EFA will be submitted to cover Years 3 and 5 along with a management plan in Year 5 for the following 5 years.

73 Exit Strategy

Buildings Good access to buildings would facilitate ease of removal, with minimal damage to the site, of the primary materials used in their construction and could be used elsewhere. Secondary materials could be allowed to compost on site or also be removed for recycling elsewhere. Alternatively buildings could be retained on site for agricultural use. The poly tunnels would be removed and used elsewhere.

Landscape/ Plantings All landscape features and plantings would be left on site as they represent a huge benefit to local biodiversity, nutrient catchment and local access.

74 9. EFA Analysis The One Planet Development policy requires that we can demonstrate an Ecological Footprint of 2.44 gha per capita by Year 5 of development. The ultimate target is 1.88gha per capita. The Welsh national average is 4.88gha (2004)

We have spent many years consciously reducing our environmental impact, with lifestyle choices that make life simpler and less resource dependent. After calculating our current impact using the Ecological Footprint Analysis framework as 2.67gha, we are delighted to see that our efforts have paid off, and that we are already not far off the 2.44 gha target, and already well below the Welsh national average.

Our current Per Capita Ecological Footprint is 2.67 gha per capita per year

Our estimated Per Capita Ecological Footprint on First Habitation 1.71 gha per capita per year.

Our future estimated Per Capita Ecological Footprint 1.62 gha per capita per year.

Notes on the EFA Calculation Row 6. Our gas use will go initially on first habitation from our current use. This is to account for the fact we currently have hot water supplied from a solar thermal system installed by our landlord, and will be using gas to heat some of our water on first habitation, with the rest coming from a hot water sleeve installed on our wood burner.

Row 7. Our biomass use will initially go up from the level we currently use, as the temporary accommodation we’ll be living in will be have much less insulation than our current accommodation and will need more heat/fuel to keep the dwelling warm.

Row 12. First Habitation, this is the cost of a static caravan and solar power, and installation of a wood burner.

Row 13. Fist Habitation, this is the cost of fitting a lean to shelter/dirty room to our static.

Row 16. We anticipate needing to buy a new vehicle within 5 years, and the cost would be spread over a 10 year period.

Row 38. Year 5, we will produce our own alcoholic beverages.

Row 43. Year 5, the size of our plot will be our dwelling, our household garden, a portion of the field vegetable growing area needed for household supply, a portion of our poly tunnels and the grazing area needed by our cows to supply dairy products.

75 Other Footprints. The EFA analysis is comprehensive there are certain aspects that are not covered in its remit. These have been identified as:

Negative Influences Transport associated with social visits. See Transport and Travel Plan, page 67. The majority of the impact from social visits from friends and family will be around transport, and is hard to quantify. Friends visiting: we anticipate the majority will be from local friends, some within our village and the next village along, and this will be either on foot, on bicycle. For this coming by vehicle we would encourage them to tie in a visit to us with other trips they are taking. Family: we anticipate only 3-4 visits per year, with half of these being by public transport.

Transport associated with deliveries for enterprise In our Transport and Travel Plan, page 67, we outline our strategy for minimising this impact, through shared transport and shared school run and ensuring all journeys are dual or triple purpose.

Footprint of ancillary domestic buildings Our Zero Carbon Buildings section, page 58, shows materials to be used for the ancillary domestic buildings (wood store, cold store, workshop). We estimate the capital costs for these will be £6000.

Positive Influences

Impacts of the produce supplied into the local economy Within 5 years, our site is predicted to be supplying £13,00057 of low-impact produce into the local economy. This equates to a hugely significant amount of reduced impact, when considered against the resource-heavy production and transport requirements of the majority of food and beverage sold in our shops. We will also be having a positive impact on the local economy through buying supplies locally and the employment of local contractors e.g construction of our track.

Impacts on the footprints of the wider community We intend to use our project to help build awareness of the ideals of one planet living to a wider community, both locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We can achieve this through the promotion of our produce, the brand we’ll develop, seasonal open days, visiting volunteers, and online (globally accessible) resource. The potential impact of this is near impossible to quantify. However, given the Welsh Government aspirations around sustainability it’s an important note to make.

EFA Essential Criteria • Within 5 years the residents will have a ecological footprint of 1.61 gha, which is under the ultimate target of 1.88gha for One Planet Developments

57 This is based on the assumption that half our herbal products will be sold locally, with the rest being sold regionally or nationally, and all of our fruit products will be sold locally only.