Two significant developments! 

Friday was definitely a day to celebrate. We’d already booked the day off as we had our “pre-start” meeting with our architects and our builder – and just before their visit we also found out our fifth planning application had been approved! We had initially thought it would be easy to approve – the front wall of the shippon (not part of the original structure) is unstable and moving (there are no foundations and some of the iron supports have rusted away), but because it’s a listed building we needed to ask approval to replace it. It took the council 4 months to reach their decision – this was after they took another month to decide which planning route would be fastest too! The main thing, though, is that it’s been approved and now there’s nothing stopping us starting building work. 

Our pre-start visit also went very well – we met our new architect who’s recently joined In Ex Design and is providing extra support for our project. Both architects arrived with a huge folder of all the different drawings and surveys, which looked very formal and impressive! It was well worth the time going through the latest plans, structural designs and M&E (mechanical and electrical) drawings to make sure everything is right, and check nothing has changed that we’ve missed. We walked round the site after the meeting to make sure our current set-up has been documented properly – focusing in particular on the drainage proposal, which is made more complicated by the fact we’re on a hill, with rainwater and hill run-off water currently routed various ways across the site. The last thing we want is for our new buildings to flood… 

Our main action over the next week is to go through our builder’s initial view of costs, to check how much each stage will cost, look for any opportunities to reduce this, and check Phase 1 is manageable. I don’t know if every project has to be documented in so much detail, but CW Build really have done a great job in laying it all out for us, to make our homework easier! 

A couple of fairly dry days meant we also had time to catch up on jobs in the garden – starting by moving the contents of another compost bin to the top of the orchard, although this sadly wasn’t as decomposed as the first one is. Hopefully we can move the final bin next weekend, and cross another job off the list! Having an extra compost bin has also enabled us to start cutting back some of the dead vegetation, as we have somewhere to put it now. The garden is looking so overgrown and unloved, with new growth battling through the dead remnants of last summer, and we really do need to clear it back. It makes such a difference to look at too – so we’re aiming to clear a couple of areas each weekend to fit around our major jobs – it’s never ending but a nice excuse to be outside!