Chapter 7
The Planning Office of The Land Is Ours

The Potato Store, Flaxdrayton Farm, S Petherton, Somerset, TA13 5LR; 01460 249204; chapter7@ tlio.org.uk

Chapter 7 campaigns for "access to land for all households . . through environmentally sound planning"
(from Agenda 21, Chapter 7c, on Human Habitation Settlement).

You can find some of our publications further down the page.

We publish The Land Magazine at least twice a year.

We also supply:

FREE PLANNING ADVICE

Chapter 7 offers free telephone planning advice to smallholders, low impact builders, caravan and shack dwellers and other low income rural people experiencing problems with the planning authorities.

If you have a specific query please phone 01460 249204, or (as long as you don't expect an essay in reply) e-mail chapter7@tlio.org.uk.

If you want general advice on your situation, before phoning please obtain a copy of our DIY Planning Handbook, which consists of 90 A4 pages and costs £15. This saves us having to say the same things over and over again on the phone. It also helps pay for the service. Send a cheque made out to CHAPTER 7 to THE POTATO STORE, FLAXDRAYTON FARM, S PETHERTON, SOMERSET TA13 5LR. When you've read through the relevant bits of the handbook, we will be happy to answer any questions. To see the contents page of the DIY Planning Handbook click here diy.html

Index to the Chapter 7 website

Who are we? describes the objectives and activities of Chapter 7

Contact us at our new e-mail address (checked every Thursday) or our reliable old snail mail address or telephone

Chapter 7's seasonal newsletter provides up to date information on planning policy precedents, the planning struggles of low-impact settlements, grassroots action, mobile homes and more...

Click here for our Spring 2003 newsletter

Click here for our Summer 2003 newsletter

Click here for our Spring 2004 newletter

Click here for our Summer 2004 newsletter Chapter 7 News has been replaced by THE LAND magazine

Click here for our special report on PPS7

Defining Rural Sustainability is a set of criteria for sustainable developments in the countryside drawn up by the Rural Planning Group of The Land is Ours. It provides a set of standards for local councils, planners, and green developers to assess the environmental merits of projects which claim to be sustainable or low-impact.

Planning for Sustainable Woodlands is a submission to the Forestry Forum regarding reform of the Town and Country Planning System to implement 'A New Focus for England's Woodlands', the England Forestry Strategy- by Lucy Nichol, Simon Fairlie, Ben Law aand Russell Rowley

Planning precedents is a set of legal documents which may be useful to others seeking to develop their planning appeals.

DIY Planning Briefings for Low Impact Developers are a series of documents designed to help ordinary people deal with all the problems associated with putting in a low impact planning application.

Pictures of Low -impact homes and smallholdings

Policy Statements

Click here to read an Analysis of the Rural White Paper by Chapter 7

Sustainable Homes and Livelihoods in the Countryside : Suggestions for the Forthcoming Revision or Replacement of Planning Policy Guidance 7 by Chapter 7 and the PPG7 reform group

Government Reports

NEW! (In PDF format) Low Impact Development - Planning Policy and Practice the first ever report into low impact development! !commissioned by the Countryside Council for Wales, partially funded by the Welsh Assembly and written by the University of the west of England- Land Use Consultants

Austrian scythes

Chapter 7 is partially supported by the sale of hand-forged Austrian scythes, which are lighter and easier to sharpen than conventional English sythes - click her for a link to www.thescytheshop.co.uk to find out more about these fine tools

Chapter 7 - planning advice for U.K. sustainable settlements

Chapter 7 The Planning Office of The Land Is Ours

Chapter 7 campaigns for "access to land for all households . . through environmentally sound planning" (from Agenda 21, Chapter 7c, on Human Habitation Settlement).