A distinctive hobbit house in Pembrokeshire, Wales was reportedly defended by its owners from being bulldozed for over three years.
In a report from WalesOnline, George Clarke supported the controversial home saying, "Planning should be changed to allow small projects like this." Clarke is an architect and is one of the most successful TV presenters on UK television. His programmes, as in the Ideal Home Show, celebrate remarkable homes and places.
The beautiful house garnered more than 100,000 of online support across the world. Owners Megan Williams and Charlie Hague built the turf-roofed roundhouse as alternative to the damp caravan they were previously called home. The pair created the unique house from scratch using natural, local materials. It is exceptionally constructed with straw bale walls making it eco-friendly because it absorbs carbon.
The hobbit house was threatened to be torn down when the Pembrokeshire Council issued a demolition notice because the owners failed to apply for a planning permission. TheGuardian reported that the couple rested their hopes on meeting the One Planet Development practice criteria - which require either 65% of all subsistence, or 30% of food and 35% of livelihood, to come from the land - in order to save their eco-home.
Amid thousands of cheers, the WalesOnline report announced that planning inspector Kay Sheffield had finally approved their appeal. "I have concluded that the development would adhere to the requirements of Welsh Government guidance in respect of One Planet Development and that the contents of the management plan 2015 would satisfy the terms and conditions of the guidance. On this basis I conclude that the proposal is an acceptable form of residential development in the open countryside." Sheffield added, "For these reasons, and having had regard to all other matters raised, the appeal is allowed."
Overjoyed and thankful, Williams said: "It's been a really long, hard struggle and we've had to meet some really strict criteria under the sustainable living criteria... I got the news we can keep our home in an email. I was just doing some paperwork and I saw it. I've had to keep re-reading it."
