Plans Afoot...

​Earlier his week, as I dotted fresh loganberries into a layer of stewed rhubarb, I mused upon the fact that since rhubarb and loganberry flapjacks were one of the things I made for the launch of the Earth Heart Kitchen in the first days of August 2024, the seasons have performed their inimitable dance once more… and the current incarnation of Earth Heart is less than two weeks away from being one year old! So, reflecting back, it seems appropriately timely that we have some rather exciting news to share with regards to plans for moving forward!

​If you’ve chatted more than once or twice to us at an event of any kind over the last twelve months, it’s likely that our plans to install a yurt on the land next to our cottage will have come in to the conversation. It’s a plan which not only precedes any of the other Earth Heart activities, but is in fact a large part of the reason for their existence; as ways to bring in a little revenue to fund the project. This week, we received notification that our planning application has been validated. 

Excitement the Day Before Launching Earth Heart Kitchen!

Now, that’s not to say we’ve got planning permission, just that Powys County Council have acknowledged submission of a valid application along with all the necessary diagrams, documents, surveys and figures. That might not sound like much to celebrate, since we’ve still got at least eight weeks to wait for a decision, but it’s been a long time and a lot of paperwork to get even this far. 
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We submitted our pre-planning application two weeks after launching the Earth Heart Kitchen and received feedback from the council a month later. It was after ruminating the contents of that for a good few months that we decided to bite the proverbial bullet and enlist help from people who could calculate turning circles, produce scale drawings and commission ecological surveys. We started working with Glampitect in March of this year and it’s still taken us more than four months to submit! It’s also cost us something in the region of three thousand five hundred and seventy packs of peanut butter cookies, so you’ll understand that it’s something we feel rather excited about! (And no, we’ve not sold, nor even made, three thousand five hundred and seventy packs of peanut butter cookies.)

Artist Impressions of the Earth Heart Glamp Site

Proposed Plan

The summary of the application on the wonderfully mythically titled Planning Portal reads “Siting of a glamping yurt with decking for holiday use, bicycle store, bin store & WC/shower structures and all associated works”, which is not inaccurate, but fails to do justice to the full vision. We want the Earth Heart yurt to be a place for people to come and spend some time living a little closer to the natural world, to experience a gentle way of being that has minimal impact and treads the earth a touch more lightly than many of our modern lifestyles do. We won’t be entirely off grid as we’ll rely on mains water but we’ll be installing an accessible compost toilet and power to the yurt will be generated by a small solar panel. Landscaping will focus on protecting the beings that already live on the land and actively encouraging biodiversity with a small native flower meadow as well as perennial food plants for guests to make use of. As the project builds, we’ll be looking for other ways to support visitors to make consciously more sustainable choices too. Our ideas include schemes like discounts for people choosing to arrive by public transport, an electric vehicle charging point, E-bike hire and even a version of the Earth Heart Honesty Box that features a small ‘pay it forward’ food bank and space for other local crafters to showcase their work.

Of course, the project will be relying on local tourism for a majority of its financial viability but we do want it to be a space for the local community too and when we don’t have glampers (we’ll have a wood burner for cosy off-season use), we’d like to make the yurt and its facilities available for day hire by donation. We envisage it as an ideal space for use by healers, for acoustic rehearsals, small workshops and intimate gatherings. You might even have an idea we’ve not yet thought of!

So this post is a bit of a ‘watch this space’ teaser, but we’re quietly confident and we’re certainly creeping ever closer to realising the next stage of our mission, whilst continuing to let the multifaceted entity that is Earth Heart gather pace and grow itself organically from the roots up. Ultimately, Earth Heart is a place making project; we want to craft a space where people can connect more deeply with the world, to experience healthfulness and beauty in a place that feels safe, loved and cared for. Going forward, there will be all sorts of opportunities to get involved and  be part of that vision, we’d love for you to join us on this exciting journey! Maybe, just maybe, our next update will be more exciting still. The notional deadline for a decision is the 8th of September. With crossed fingers, take care until then!