Eco-village 'misled' local people

by Jonathan Morris
BBC News South West

Landmatters says living on the land is vital to the project Enlarge Image

Residents fighting eviction from an eco-village on farmland in south Devon have been accused of misleading locals.

About 18 people are living in makeshift accommodation on 42 acres of farmland at Allaleigh.

Some Allaleigh villagers said the Landmatters co-op residents had told them they only wanted to farm the land.

Landmatters denied deception, but said it regretted keeping its aim of living there a "secret". The group has been living on site that it owns since 2005.

It is fighting eviction by South Hams District Council which last year rejected a retrospective planning application for the dwellings.

An appeal against an enforcement notice and the planning refusal is due to be heard later this year.

Inside the Landmatters dwellings Battle-lines drawn on settlement

Derek Crocker, who lives in the hamlet, told BBC News that after Landmatters bought the land in 2003 they told him they were going to grow courgettes.

He said: "They told us they were going to do organic farming and that there was going to be no living and no cars.

"They've turned turtle and that's why we are so annoyed."

Landmatters resident Ambuka, 39, said: "We did not say we were going to live on the land because we knew people might not agree, so we were very careful not to initiate that discussion.

"It was very painful to keep it secret. Most of us were very uncomfortable with the decision.

"We want to be open and honest and living in touch with nature, the land and the community around us."

The co-op bought the land in 2002 after organiser, Totnes teacher Dr Christian Taylor, wrote an e-mail calling for people to join the project.

Its current accommodation includes makeshift structures such as benders, a tent-like structure made of poles and tarpaulin, and yurts, wooden trellis-framed structures.

Landmatters residents say their dwellings, which they say have a low impact on the environment, should be allowed by local authorities.

Dr Taylor said: "A community was not the intention from the outset.

"But it soon became clear that there were those in the group that could not be part of the project unless they were able to live on the farm."