Devon mud hut couple offered Travelodge

[Equus]

Gareth79 said:

I guess it might be "sustainable" in their current circumstances - living in a building made of mud, presumably no power and living off a wood fire. If you added on the costs of a proper house and perhaps a office/workshop made to current building regulations, council tax/business rates, electric/water/sewerage, income tax, liability insurance etc. would it still be sustaiable?

Probably not, but that's a bit like saying that I shouldn't be allowed permission for a domestic garage beside my house, because a multi-storey car park would have an unacceptable impact on the character of the area... Planning can only assess the impact of the permission being sought, not all the possible alternatives.

Building Regulations and Planning are quite separate things, by the way: an Authority cannot deny Planning Permission because it believes Building Regulations compliance may be problematical, or vice versa.

I've had a very brief skim through the documentation on this particular case - suffice it to say, it's extensive, and the article in the OP only gives a small part of the picture, but there were many things that the applicants could have done much, much better and which would have improved their chances of success.

The LPA and the Appeals Inspectorate have both acted very reasonably in assessing the information presented to them, but again, they're only able to assess what they've been given to assess.

[poo at Paul's]

I wonder if they are allergic to Welfare State handouts....? Or medication from the NHS when they need it.
They look like they may be allergic to soap.