ECOLOGY & NATURE

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AN ECO-TOWN IN BRITAIN

TREE HUGGER - Wintles has 12 acres of shared woodland and allotments, so
that people can feed themselves, and they even bought a failed pub in
town and are turning it into a micro-brewery. The houses are built in
clusters of about ten to twelve homes. . .

The houses are wood framed with lots of insulation, careful placement of
windows for passive solar heating, with wood stoves. That didn't stop
the authorities from questioning the designs;

"The banks that lent the money insisted on central heating being put in,
even though the homes were heated perfectly well by wood-burners. The
heating engineers would not sign off the properties without insisting on
radiators being installed upstairs, even though, due to the very high
insulation, they were unnecessary. The water company insisted on Living
Villages taking external liability for any problem with the
rain-harvesting system, which caused further problems with the banks.
And the council insisted on the approach road being wide enough for two
refuse trucks to pass – even though this is deepest Shropshire."

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/the_wintles_bri.php

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