AN ECO-FRIENDLY family hopes their dreams of building a self-sufficient house in the Greenfield hillside will become a reality with the support of local residents.
Andy Hurley, 52, and wife Beki have teamed up with architect Deramore Hutchcroft to submit a planning application for the ecological home on Huddersfield Road.
And they are urging others to send messages of support to Oldham Council to help secure approval for the unique property, where they want to live with their children Leon and Olivia.
Andy, a keen walker and sailor, explained that increasing energy bills and diminishing natural resources have made them reconsider living in the 1720s farmhouse they have spent years renovating.
“Energy bills are going through the roof and it’s going to get worse,” he said. “Nobody’s salaries are going up by ten per cent so something has got to give.
“We are doing it because we can to change our lifestyle. We want essentially to be able to live without any mains electricity, gas or water.
“We are doing this so we can be more self-sufficient and show people it can be done. We want to have little or no impact on the environment.”
Initial plans for the home show a property buried into the ground and constructed with a compressed tyre bale system and straw bales, with most building materials locally sourced.
The property will have a lush green roof which blends into the landscape, solar panels out of sight on the south side and mullion windows in keeping with the Saddleworth vernacular style.
A bore hole sunk to source water, a collection pond and a septic tank will provide awater system while ground source heat pumps will be installed to passively heat the family home.
And crops and livestock will be kept in the field, where there is already an orchard, hens and sheep.
Andy revealed around 80 people attended an open day about the house last month and he was pleased with the support they offered, with more than 60 signing a petition.
“Once people understood our reasons and realised this isn’t going to be a massive, imposing structure they really got behind us,” he explained.
“But now it depends on the powers above. We’d rather be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed and we just want support from everyone to try our best to make it happen.”
The plan received unanimous recommendation for approval by Saddleworth Parish Council at their planning meeting – although they added that greenbelt should only be developed for innovative schemes like this.
Deramore, from AKA Community who is leading the project, is also working on an underground ‘invisible home’ in Delph after planning permission was granted in 2012.
He hopes this second venture will also get the green light, saying: “We had more than 60 people signing a petition to support the application at the Open Day.
“The Hurley family are passionate about doing this self-build and hope they do not have to move away from their beloved Saddleworth to achieve this sensible goal.
“It is the perfect time to lead the way in creating sustainable self-build homes and put Oldham on the ecological green map.
“The buildings I’m designing around the area are conceived by people that want to stay here and build for themselves. This is the traditional way that Saddleworth was developed and should be the way in the future.
“Large housing developments don’t add anything to the feel of a village. It would be much better if the council went for a more organic approach to expanding these villages and supported local people deciding to build their own homes.”
For more information about The Hurley’s Green Home and other AKA Community projects visit their website: www.akacommunity.org
To support Andy and Beki in their planning application, send your message by the end of December to Abdul Ahmed at planning@oldham.gov.uk and quote ‘PA/334567/13 Erection of 1 no. dwelling cut into hillside’ with your full name,address and postcode, the word ‘support’ with a very small piece of text saying why you support the innovative design.
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