For this section, I will look at how I can apply the permaculture principles to this design. I have decided to pick three of the permaculture principles to explore. I will also view this design through the lens of permaculture ethics.

 

Permaculture Principles.

 

OBSERVE & INTERACT

Observing the field is something that I have been doing from an early age. Back in the late seventies and into the eighties most of our journeys to town or my grandmas were taken on foot, not because we were an environmentally conscious family and wanted to save the planet but because walking was free, and my dad who drove the car was doing one of three things, working, watching the horse racing or sleeping, so walking was what was left. Walking past the field was always a highlight, sometimes there were even cows in there, mostly it was a field full of flowers, a magical sight for a small boy who loved nature. Who would have thought many years later I would be living next to this same field that held my imagination all those years ago.

Nature still holds that same wonder as it did for me as a young boy. I now get to experience the field daily. The most outstanding addition to the field arrived around about the same time as I moved into my house around 7 years ago, that being barn owls. Tawny owls have been a part of the town for many years, the mature trees around the field provide excellent nesting sites whilst the field itself provides food for the owls. Tawny owls are nocturnal so it's mostly their calls that bring them to your attention during the night whereas the barn owl is a bird that will happily hunt those twilight hours of dawn and dusk providing the observer with a display of ghostly beauty as it quarters low over meadow hunting for prey. In my lifetime, I had never seen a barn owl in Richmond until I spotted one flying towards me out of the darkness one morning shortly after moving into where I now live. They nest a couple of fields over and one morning I got to watch three barn owls hunting the meadow, perhaps two adults and one young one or two young owls and one adult either way the magic never stops happening when there are owls to be seen.

In recent years I’ve found the easiest way for people to think you are mad is to tell them you have seen a badger in the meadow. It baffles me why this would seem so odd, I see so many badgers out on foraging excursions when I’m out walking around the wilder edges of the town, the places essential for badgers to find food. Admittedly I’m walking around when most people are fast asleep but the best time to see nocturnal wildlife is of course, when it is dark, who would have guessed? I’m not a night person but often I’ll be out walking at 4 am the perfect time for spotting the local badgers, hedgehogs, owls and the odd happy drunk heading home.

Thanks to the trial cameras I run in the garden, last year over two nights I had Brock the badger call in for a visit, capturing his black and white face on film has enabled me now to direct those who believe me mad to be seeing mythical creatures so close to their homes to YouTube where they too can see the guilty as charged caught on film. Hedgehogs are the real movie stars coming back night after night to entertain, they are a nightly occurrence in the garden once out of hibernation, the record is five altogether on film in the garden.

It is due to the field that so much wildlife overflows into the garden, a staggering 50 species of birds I’ve spotted in my garden and on or over the field feeding, 10 different species of butterflies, an incredible amount of different moths of all shapes and sizes along with uncountable varieties of insects, a favourite would be the scorpionfly, I’ve also seen Roe deer in the field which even makes me do a double take.

We have identified just short of 1oo varieties of flowers and grasses in the field, it is this diversity which enables everything to thrive creating a key foraging ground providing essential food for the bats that roost in the old buildings and mature trees of the town centre. The longstanding hedge and wall lines of the wildflower meadow act as flightpaths for bats enabling them to forage further away from their roosts. Without these flight paths, the bats become trapped and are unable to range further in search of food.

To have so much wildlife so close to the centre of town at a time when biodiversity is under so much threat from every angle possible is truly remarkable and can only be described as a great asset to the town and one that should be protected at all costs else we not only lose one of the only remaining medieval fields of the town unbuilt upon after all this time but we would also lose all the wildlife in this part of the town which can only exist due to this field that is full of abundance.

 

 APPLY SELF-REGULATION & ACCEPT FEEDBACK

Two activities, in particular, helped me to hear the voices of other concerned residents of the town along with people who visit to enjoy the views and the history that Richmond has to offer, these were a table at the Saturday outside market held in the market place and a table outside the house which held a petition which people could sign as they passed by.

We did two tables on the market, but it was the first held in September which was the most engaging where several of us spoke to people raising awareness of the planning proposal. Listening to people's concerns and hearing about their passions would later help guide me in my approach to how I would respond to future correspondence on such topics.

I spoke to many people who signed the petition outside the house. Their voices mirrored the same concerns as those we spoke to in the town; the difference was that I would often have long conversations with these people. I got the meet some fascinating characters both local and from around the world. Many people keep coming back to the town year after year to enjoy its beauty, its history and the wonderful views both in the town and the surrounding countryside.

The takeaway from these activities was that people were very concerned that a meadow in a conservation area was going to be turned into houses removing a prime site for biodiversity from a central location in the town. People could also not understand why one of the most iconic views of the town was going to be lost so one family could gain financially.

Many people thanked us for what we were doing and said if they had time they would also help. This was a situation in which I had to apply self-regulation and accept feedback. The number of times I hear people innocently repeat to themselves that they are too busy I’m reminded of the words of John Lennon “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans”. In a world of distractions, the playground is often the place people believe to be real, a place in which they have invested so much of their lives on all the different rides they are unable to accept the truth. The core people I worked with throughout this campaign I would describe as very busy people. Life is always ready to provide opportunities to those who take the time to breathe.

 

CREATIVELY USE & RESPOND TO CHANGE

The strain of trying to understand all the planning jargon along with all the different planning policies can have a very undesirable effect on one's sleep. A planning officer devotes their working life to learning these things which change depending upon the flavour of the government in charge of themselves who believe they know what is right yet understand beneath a darkness that consumes all their light. For a layperson learning planning jargon and policy on the fly, to comprehend it all after a few internet searches is a tall order indeed.

This is where a dedicated group of people come into their own. My first thoughts were that I didn’t know enough to be of any use on such matters as planning reports, I knew nothing of highway infrastructure, lighting requirements, drainage and a long list of other related topics. Before I knew it, I was promoted to ecology expert, a little caught off guard by this unrequested accolade my only relief was not having to learn about all the other complicated topics which fortunately found their way to other people in the group who seemed to happily take on their new challenges. At least ecology is straightforward and obvious.

A community joining together under a common goal is a very powerful force. As somebody who is much more aligned with the introvert description of a person. Attending group meetings and even having to speak in a town council planning meeting are not activities I rejoice in having to do and yet I responded to the change in my usual routine and got creative.

After many conversations with lots of very different local people it became apparent to me there was some misunderstanding about the town's ecology. Lots of people recognise the importance of green spaces, this could be due to how it makes them feel, or it could be that green spaces provide habitat for wildlife or that they help with the preservation of views. What seemed to be missing was the detail and by listening to the voices of others I came to realise I would be able to add the missing detail.

It is strange how things often work themselves out, having such a passionate group of residents working together I’ve learnt so much from them and they have also provided me with much more confidence, especially in writing which I never have had. I’ve also made some lovely new friends.

 

Permaculture Ethics

 

Even considering building houses in a designated conservation area highlights the simple fact that a developer has no consideration for preserving the heritage or has any regard for protecting the ecology of a town for future generations to enjoy.

Permaculture is about caring for the earth, caring for people and sharing the resources available for others to benefit from. The aim of this design is built around these three ethics, Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.

In one breath our government tells us we need to focus on protecting the environment, farmers are being paid to stop producing food and rewild large areas of their land. In another breath, our government has the policy to build more houses and to disregard green spaces that bring benefit to local communities in favour of building houses on them.

It is now more important than ever for communities to join in fighting planning proposals that destroy the community's ecology and heritage for future generations to benefit from. If we do not make a stand now, there will be nothing left, houses will have consumed those remaining areas in and around our villages, towns and cities that give the place its character. Permaculture is a promotor of these edges be it the edge of a woodland or the edge of a town, it's these edges where the most abundance can be found going from one environment to another. The edge is often the most diverse part of the landscape providing habitat for wildlife that no longer can be found in the larger countryside due to the types of agriculture carried out in most of our countryside today. Once we remove all the edges these unique habitats will be lost forever.

The unique location of this wildflower meadow so close to the town centre and the phenomenal views over the town can people enjoy when they walk to town next to the field provides an opportunity for people to feel they are part of something special. The number of people suffering from Mental health issues has become a major concern. I have spoken to so many people who rely on this field to provide them with a few moments out of their day to enjoy the peacefulness of nature, lots of these people have limited mobility so this wildflower meadow is often as far as they can get but it offers much more than medications can provide for their wellbeing.

What has taken place through a community of residents joining together, the three ethics of permaculture silently guide every decision made. Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share.