Charlie Hague and Megan Williams, both 25, built the roundhouse from scratch with their own hands, using only natural materials.
But the couple lost their appeal today against a planning enforcement notice telling them to tear their pride and joy home down.
Charlie and Megan, who have a one-year-old son Eli, built the house on private land in Glandwr, North Pembrokeshire, UK, last summer.
Locals nicknamed it the hobbit home, although most people did not even know it was there because it is so secluded.
But Pembrokeshire County Council ordered the couple to demolish their home because it was built without planning permission.
Charlie and Megan, who live a self-sufficient lifestyle, fought the decision claiming it had a low impact on the environment because of its unique construction.
Charlie, a sculptor and woodworker, said: ‘We built this house to provide our son with a healthy environment to grow up in.
‘We were born in the area, went to school here, and have lived here all our lives. We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.’
The pair acknowledged their property was built without prior consent but said there was no other way for them to afford their own home.
Megan said: ‘I know it’s not a possibility for everyone, and our situation here is unique, but if young people are to live and work in the area they need somewhere to live.’
The couple’s appeal was dismissed by planning inspector Iwan Lloyd, who ruled the development harmed the character and appearance of the countryside.
The inspector upheld the council’s enforcement notice, which requires the roundhouse and all associated work, including the timber decking, be demolished.
Middle Earth: Charlie Hague and Megan Williams’ home has been compared to a hobbit’s. But the couple have been ordered to tear their idyllic dwelling down by a killjoy council.
One friend said: ‘They are heartbroken – the roundhouse is a thing of great beauty which they put their hearts and souls into.
‘They are a young couple who should be applauded for solving their own housing issues by creating a sustainable home out of local materials.
‘Instead they are now facing the prospect of watching it being razed to the ground.’
The couple have one last chance – they have applied for retrospective planning permission but their friends said they feared it was a lost cause.
14 Responses
Terrible government so corrupt!We the people need to take back our rights especially on our own land!Too many rules!Big government needs to go!I was treated like a criminal 2 weeks ago trying to visit England!I will never go back there!!
Move here to WV. We remain free here. I built my home and the only time the government showed up was when the assessor came to put it on the tax rolls. We have had a numbere of expat Euros move here because ‘freedom’ to build their dreams was not available to them in their homeland. BTW I am a candidate for the state legislature, and I intend to defend freedom, not regulate dreams and freedoms. Take care, and drop me an email if you’s every like to visit.
Too bad the ‘lights’ never go off in their heads. Maybe ideas would sprout. A new way of doing things..a better way…open the eyes up…to better possiblities to help the people in need…not be rigid and reman stuck heads in the laws, but to bend and remold and transform.
It’s time the law realizes they do not own the land, the people or the universe.
Lloyd ‘s opinion is the home destroys the ‘appearance’ of the area–let the people there VOTE. These unconscious people allow state highways to be rammed through farms, and homes to be built with deadly chemicals, yet this desturbs him? The people need to hamper this blinded heartless unhappy man.
ubfortunately, getting planning permission is a nightmare of impossibility – without having an army of expensive solicitors (like major developers can afford to employ) the UK polanning system is utterly stacked against anyone wishing to live sustainably on a patch of their own land…..and hey, just imagine if everyone who wanted to live in the country could just build – well, correct me if I am wrong but there seems to be an utter laxity regarding those with enough clout, contacts or money to do exactly as they wish…whereas, regardless of the beauty, sustainability and enhancement, such homes can give to an area, it seems unlikely that the average land owner would be given permission to erect so much as a compost toilet – it is always easier for planners to simply say no.
it was illegal for you to build no exceptions tear it down and next time get your permits . end of story yes the house is beautiful but you did it against the law ,
The planning regulations need to be brought up to date. The law is supposed to stop people like Donald Trump building whatever they like in the middle of the country (which it hasn’t) but at the same time doesn’t allow for off-grid and people wanting to lead self sufficient lives to use the resources from the land to build a home. The reason given by Iwan Lloyd in the article is pathetic.
they broke the law and built this without planning permission.. if everyone did this, imagine what the countryside would look like??..
OK, it’s a very nice home, a work of art.. but they should have taken the proper steps
Demolished? should be listed. Lovely looking place to live, much better than the junky flats they have put up in most other places that somehow are in keeping according to them.
Planners need to hang their heads in shame, all they aim to do is protect the rights of the wealthy to housing price growth at the determent of people who cant even get on the ladder.
Get a petition, send it to your MP. Government needs to be made aware of the stupidity of these such cases.
My thoughts are with the family
I think you’re article is a little premature.
Unless you have had info in the last 24 hours!
They face the property being demolished by the end of the month.
There is a petition you can sign here:
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/pembrokeshire-county-council-and-the-welsh-assembly-grant-retrospective-planning-permission-to-charlie-and-meg-s-roundhouse
IT AIN”T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS!!
Fantastic ambition, spirit and determination. However no planning authority would be seen to passively accept anyone taking planning law/policy into their own hands and building their own home without planning permission. It is no exaggeration that the inspector’s acceptance and justification of the hobbit house would have effectively ended his/her career and flew in the face of the plan-led system for development in the UK (no matter how much of a mess the system is!)
That is an absolutely bureaucratic and disgusting attitude by the inspector. There are enough ugly, cloned buildings in existence, why penalise ingenuity and individuality.
That’s some major B.S. I think I would try to get the media involved and hope there is a backlash that can save this work of art/home. No better way to put paper pushers in there place than to put the spot light on them