A Woodland Idyll – About To Be Destroyed?

Jamie and Rachel live on a woodland in Brec’h – in as low key a way as is possible to live in this part of Europe.  They live in a traditional Mongolian ger or yurt on 2.5 hectares. It can be taken down in about 40 minutes and re – erected just as quickly – less time to move their home than it takes many people to pack for a holiday.

Jamie Caldwell (aka Fly, 37) is welsh and his partner Rachel is a bretonne. Their yurt at the moment is only a small one but has given him shelter in nearly 20 countries in Europe. After two years of looking for their perfect piece of land, in 2008 they found the land that they had dreamed of and classed "BOISE A CONSERVER ET CREER" – which suits their mission exactly. Jamie also did his homework on the classification of his dwelling, as yurts are a new phenomena in France. There is a community of yurt dwellers in Finistere and he has discovered a lot talking to them.

A Yurt is classified as a tent type installation – being less than 35 sq. metres in size.
This can bring up problems with regards to camping, but as the rules for camping are governed by the "hebergement leger de loisirs (hll) law, the argument being that loisir (leisure) is not part of the installation “It is our life and not a pastime” says Jamie. And by protecting the trees and replanting, they adhere to the classification of “creer et conserver".

Taxe Fonciere is paid on the acreage, so he is a tax payer as well

The current ger is a bit weather beaten and they would like to up grade to a 6.6 metre diameter soon. This offers 34.2 square metres (which fits within the boundaries of anything bigger than 35 square metres needing planning permission.)

It is heated by a flat topped log burner which is also the cooker and they use candles for light.  The only electricity used is for the music system - for this they have two van batteries that with the help of a small solar panel give radio and cd power for roughly around 4 months.

One day, says Jamie,  we shall have a bicycle powered system, where we have a bike which is connected to a dynamo, and a brisk cycle every day will keep a good enough charge in the batteries,

Sanitation is provided by traditional dry toilets where the waste goes deep into the ground and is covered over with earth, and then they move to the next hole and rotate around a designated toilet area. After a few weeks, when they come back to where we started, the waste has already been broken down and is putting nutrients into the soil.

Our basic plan, Jamie says, is to buy a few woodlands around the country, which we can then protect and manage the woods in a way that will bring the best out of them and the surrounding wildlife. We could travel from one to the other every now and then with the yurt and keep on top of what needs doing and enjoy the sort of nature loving lifestyle that they want to live.

Rachel and Jamie were delighted with their progress – until Christmas Eve 2008.

Jamie takes up the story “Can you imagine the surprise when we had a registered letter from the Mairie at Brec'h arrive on the 24th December telling us we are being evicted and have 2 weeks to move the yurt of the land. Seeing Rachel reduced to tears in the midst of Christmas cheer was terrible”

“I am quite aware of the laws with regards to our way of life and am 99 and a half percent sure that this eviction is totally illegal – especially during the winter months.
 
”The only thing that I thought they might be able to prosecute us with was the fact that what we might be doing was against the rules with regards to camping in protected woodland - but if we have toilets and cooking facilities then we can get around that.

I went up to Finistere to visit some other yurt dwellers who are undergoing the process of an unsuccessful eviction. They backed up our thoughts on the fact that no-one can be thrown out over the winter months.”

The Mairie also says that Jamie must have a permit from the forest commission to carry out any clearance work on the land, despite the fact that this is not commercial forestry.
”When we turned up a lot of the trees were under heavy attack from vines, ivy and under serious competition for water and nutrients by brambles and weeds -
this work is not yet finished. It is Rachel and I who cleared up lots of the rubbish scattered around the local woodland. We also that cleared up after the contractors who were working on the train track left a terrible mess. In fact, the only things that go into the bins from us is the litter that we are constantly picking up that is strewn across our countryside.”

After emergency trips to the Mairie, Jamie and Rachel got to the bottom of the problem which appears to be that, although the deputy maire said personally he had no problems with the yurt being there, someone in the locality put in a complaint.
A local person, who had put in for planning permission to put up a garden shed and was refused, then went to the maire and said it was not fair that they have the right to live in a yurt when he can’t have a shed. And this is where the case rests.

Jamie and Rachel are currently getting together legal and practical information regarding the eviction off their own land, on which they pay taxes and where their impact is minimal.

If you would like more information please e-mail Jamie at: gerdweller@hotmail.co.uk

And to support their cause, they would ask that you sign their petition to allow them to stay on the woodland that they have nurtured: www.ipetitions.com/petition/yourte56

A last word: Thanks, from Jamie and Rachel