Eco-friendly home gets council nod (From Bucks Free Press)

Eco-friendly home gets council nod

10:23am Tuesday 27th August 2002 in News

A FUTURISTIC house set with solar-powered heating and eco-friendly gadgets is to be built in leafy Seer Green but only if bats are not nesting in the eaves of the existing building.

Chiltern district councillors were locked in a row at the planning meeting on Thursday over the application to build the replacement house at Long Bottom Lane as some members believed it would not fit in the special character of the residential area.

Members were outraged that the building, which is built mainly from glass, would become a blot on the picturesque landscape.

The house has been deemed as one of the most environmentally friendly in the current construction business. Most houses of this type include high levels of insulation, a recycling facility to re-use water and natural air conditioning.

Cllr Peter Lole said: "During the 1960s and 1970s they went bananas, mainly with futuristic square things and Prince Charles at the forefront said 'stop, where is our green and pleasant land?'

"We cannot be modern or radical to waste the street scene. It is incongruous in this area. It is a lovely house and it is radical but do we want lovely radicalism in Long Bottom Lane?"

Cllr Meg White said the community should start looking forward to installing more houses that help the environment and the application should be supported.

Cllr Don Phillips said it cannot be seen from the road because it is shielded by trees and lower than the existing building.

He added: "It is going to be a landmark. Something to be proud to have in this district. This is the right location for it."

Planning committee chairman Cllr Nicholas Rose cast the deciding vote to build the house after a tie, with members voting eight votes for and eight against the plans.

The application will now only go ahead if checks prove there are no bats on the site.