Sex and £1,000

Well that headline should make you sit up and take notice! 'bout time she got off on planning I hear you say..........let's start with £1,000.

On Tuesday Feb 15th at 2pm on ITV1 you have to watch "May The Best House Win". It's sort of similar to "Come Dine With Me"  for those in the know. Four houses are judged by the occupants of each others homes for the best house in terms of style, homeliness, entertainment and overall viewing experience. For once Gerry was in the background and I am the chosen one to be in front of the TV camera. It was some experience. Oh I suppose Gerry was there as well - he did the entertainment.

The prize for the best house is £1,000 but I can't tell you who wins. You will have to watch. It is maybe worth watching some of the preceding episodes if you get a chance.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/May-The-Best-House-Win/161251806521  is the site on facebook or

http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/maythebesthousewin/  for the programme web site

http://www.itv.com/ITVPlayer/?intcmp=NAV_ITVPLAYE2  for the ITV programme guide.


OK OK what about the sex? well do you know what it means if you grow Pampas Grass in your garden? and have you ever seen Madonna's metal bound book on sex? You will just have to watch the programme...........

I will be watching you watching this site as well. With traffic sources I am picking up the key word searches that are being used to find this blog site. Please don't search on "sex" - I could not be responsible for what you find.

Have a nice day, I'm off to the "garden" on the slope. Did I ever tell you what Gerry bought me for Xmas. A harness, a rope and a clip thing. Now is that sex or gardening I wonder?

Current Planning Application Status

     At community council on Monday night there were some aspects of our current planning application that were clearly burning issues to some individuals but warranted a simple request to outline the conditions of the sale of our ground (year 2000). I did my best to answer but was a little thrown by the Q since I wasn't really sure what aspect of the conditions was being requested. The main one of course is that the ground beyond the house is woodland and serves as garden ground to the owners of the tower and cemetery cottage. That's us. Today I found the original planning report for our house build and have extracted the sections relating to the conditions and put some comments in to make some hopefully interesting reading. It will be interesting to some people but most people with a life will probably stop here!   

 Writing in blue is from the planning department in 2008 with regard to our house build planning application, black text from me.

 The applicant purchased the treed area of land to the immediate north and west of the application site from the Council on 7^th August 2000.  The sale was subject to a condition that the land be used as garden ground ancillary to the Water Tower or the former Cemetery Cottage and for no other purpose.  The feu was required not to be built upon and mature trees were to be pruned rather than felled.  In addition the agreement required that the mature broadleaf woodland with an understorey of native species be maintained in accordance with the Management Plan annexed to the agreement.  No formal landscaping was to be carried out on the feu. 

          To date all have been complied with and substantial understorey of native species planting has taken place. Trees have been felled with permission. Some replacement planting has been agreed but the terrain remains difficult and in one particularly open area, advisors all state that no planting is worthwhile until the water run off issue is resolved and the bank area is more stable. Grants are being researched because the tennis club have no funds to make good the drainage problem and the long term outlook is not good unless external funding can be found. The tennis club have made efforts which have not worked and have no inclination to make any more effort – the run off and land slip doesn’t affect them but one day the corner of the tennis club will go.

            Formal landscaping. There are some common garden plants in areas closest to the new house which encroach on woodland. These plants have been saved from the time of the house build and are just awaiting a suitable new home. It is intended to gradually remove these to the real garden areas and produce a new 5 year woodland management plan focussing on planting of native species with complimentary natives in the areas merging with woodland. This is being done with Kevock Gardens as advisors. There are some paths and hand rails plus a sitting out area that have been added to the woodland. They do not constitute formal landscaping and no trees were removed to put these in place. The sitting out area provides a wildlife haven and did so for over 11 years when it was replaced with a new slightly larger version of the same last year. In replacing the sitting out area, the more formal elements of a path with borders of garden plants has been removed thus reducing the formality. The replacement sitting out area was actually mistakenly classified as time-barred from planning by a planning officer last year. The officer put this in writing and action was taken to finish the structure rather than remove it before the mistake was recitified. If the structure is not approved then any appeal will highlight this issue.We have chosen not to make a fuss about it though.

7.2              The condition should also cover the part of the woodland to the immediate west of the gazebo, outwith the application site.  This land, which has (unauthorised) decking and garden structures erected on it and which has been landscaped

see above. Also, the Estates officer from MC was aware of the decking and structures during a visit in the past and commented that he had no concern about these structures with regard to the feu but that they should have had the benefit of planning permission. However, by this date they were time barred for planning.
, has as a result of these works been changed in use and character from woodland to open garden ground.  The land is clearly used in association with the gazebo and would form part of the extended garden space to the new house.  While in the context of a house on the site as proposed there is no material planning objection to the present arrangement continuing, this area of land is very open to the Ironmills Park. There should be consequently no encouragement given to its use for the location of outbuildings

No outbuildings have been constructed

 or other noticeable structures.

The previous sitting out area was there for 11 years and never warranted any complaint. The replacement structure is made of wood with glazed panels. It has a well aged wooden table and chairs on it. It is useable in the summer months when the trees are in full leaf and is not noticeable from the park. In the winter it is seen. Local people in the park have been informally canvassed and no-one has shown any concern for its appearance nor for that matter actually noticed it. Of course there are some people who probably regard it as noticeable. Its impact will be the subject of a considered planning view.

 If planning permission is granted for the new house a condition should be attached preventing the erection of buildings or other structures on this land.

No new structures have been constructed – only a replacement for what existed previously and in a less formal landscaped form. However, we forgot about the bin store and so did the planning officer! Ah but a helpful local person phoned him to make sure he was doing his job correctly! This bin store started off as sympathetic screening of the Scottish power stays and is an extension of the front fence structure for which planning has been applied for. It was never thought of as a separate structure but recent phone calls to the planning department have resulted in the planning officer modifying the title of the current application and attaching more detailed photographs of the store area. At a recent community council meeting 1 member of the public thought that this was a garage. 

The resultant area created by the screening houses the bins and that helps to maintain the area in a tidy manner. The alternative would be to have these bins on show on open ground which would be highly undesireable to owner and public. The feu conditions would not prevent me placing our bins in the woodland – now this would be truly ugly, but compliant. I was really naughty last week and did just that. I bet someone other than me took some photos!

3 rowan trees and 6 Silver birch trees have been planted in the vicinity of the bin store last year in an area that never had any woodland trees at all before (gosh that will make it difficult to garage the cars). They look wonderful. Why don’t the complainers ever see the good stuff I wonder? In the past this whole area was very untidy – it had 3 cypress trees to screen the power line stays; they have been removed a long time ago. After the council blocked it off to public access I stored wood there and some gardening stuff such as pots and bags of compost. I grew clematis on the stays but it never really looked right. A visitor to the cemetery used to regularly throw used candles into the space. I dug it over one year to grow tatties. No one ever complained. Now it’s open ground covered in wood chip and we just walk on it, sit on it, maybe we will dance on it? I may practice yoga there, maybe not. I digress.

The fence is a direct replacement of the same height and materials as the former and the bin store was seen as a positive addition and not even thought about for permission. It screens the very ugly metal power line stays and bright yellow plastic cover and it will take on ivy in years to come. Oh gosh- if you want to wheel bins out then it’s good to have a section of paving so there are about 10 slabs in the ground to create a small path – that will need planning permission as well. 89 documents so far on the planning web site – has to be a record. I reckon the slab path might highlight the need for further correction to come.

Biophilia

Yesterday was January 13th and marks 29 years since my dad passed away. I always go for a walk in the hills on this date and yesterday I decided to walk at Swanston. I was keen to see the holiday homes that have been established there, to walk up the hill at the golf course and take in some cold, fresh winter air. My dad was a golfer and a lover of the hills. He played Ladhope golf course at Galashiels (on a hill) and latterly at The Braids (on a hill). Hailing from Peebles and living in and around the Borders most of his life, he used to take me hill walking whenever he could. He just liked the outdoor life - and so do I.

Usually something happens to me on the 13th of January that is significant. Maybe I look for something? but whatever the truth, yesterday I came across this article on a Biophilic House. It made me realise this is what I am striving for in my own home. I am a scientist therefore I like to have a name and an explanation for everything! This article from the Telegraph magazine summed it all up. Here was a couple building a strange looking house in Maryland. I'm not sure I like the external appearance but I wholly empathise with the concept of the build. It really explains what I have been doing this last couple of years without realising it. Click on the picture and increase the size to read the text.




My own home doesn't quite match all of the principals. Getting morning light in January is dam near impossible I think. Hence I have one of these light boxes. I'm not sure it works but if nothing else the light is very useful when I need to thread a needle and do a little sewing.

So what exactly is Biophilia?
Biophilic design injects real or simulated natural components into living and working spaces to promote emotional and physical wellness. Morning sun exposure, water features, natural vistas through window-walls, sky-ceilings, and greenhouse rooms where plants dominate and restore air quality while providing an indoor forest refuge are some common applications of this recent design concept.
Biophilic design is based more in a emotional or Zen-like perspective than save-natural-resources Green building. It has links with the Gaia Hypothesis that argues that Earth’s ecosystems form a single unit of which the human species is one element

Try this exercise; thumb through a magazine or newspaper and look for plants. Leaves, flowers, tree trunks, and roots are incorporated into countless corporate logos, adorn sexy models, and frame products (Midlothian Council uses an Oak leaf).  What we see in ordinary advertisements is an intuitive understanding for the human connection to nature. Corporations have spent many resources to discover that consumers want to wash their hair with herbs, drive in trucks made of rock, and chew gum that taste like ice. In other words, connecting products to nature equals sales.

In 1984, Harvard biologist Dr. Ed Wilson named this natural human desire, biophilia, "the love of nature." It is a feeling that dates back millions of years, to the age when the human brain evolved to attract us to elements and places that will most guarantee survival and reproductive success. Even though people may be happy in an urban high-rise, we are still most at peace when walking in a park, looking at the ocean, or hiking in the woods.

So if you find that January gets you down - go climb some easy hills or take a walk in the park. Come and visit my house if you like - I have an open door when I am in. Love to have visitors at any time.

Susan.

Snow Line in the Park

There's a strange line of snow in the Park this week. The ground is still very cold but most of the snow has thawed apart from this line and a patch nearer the river on the North side. Is it perhaps an old pipe line? or a track that was dug in the past for some purpose? anyone got any ideas. Photo taken on Jan 6th 2011 from the house.