An eco-builder who says his decade-long battle with the council over his off-grid retreat led to him losing his wife and going to prison says he is flabbergasted that he won permission for the development which he believed mirrored the original application. Eddie McIntosh was ordered by Powys council planners to demolish his wooden classroom, tree house, cabins and footbridge on his farm “retreat”, known as Mellowcroft, off the A44 near Llandrindod Wells in 2015.
But Mr McIntosh said he was determined to stand his ground. He appealed the enforcement notices, heard by an independent planning inspector, in January 2016 and received permission for agricultural use of the site. The inspector upheld the council’s decision on recreational use, however, meaning the site could not be used as a visitors’ retreat or for residential purposes, and so he would need to demolish the structures and remove the motorhome which he had been living in on the site.
Mr McIntosh admits he has not complied with the council. He even served 28 days in prison in December 2020 over his refusal to pay a £750 fine for 18 separate charges over his continued residential use of Mellowcroft. He therefore believes it is “truly bizarre” that he received full permission for residential and recreational use in 2020, but his battle with the council has come at significant cost which he still feels today.
