Moorland green project facing closure
A co-operative recycling project on Dartmoor could be forced to close after park bosses imposed a series of "ridiculous" demands, including tearing down unattractive parts of its "cluttered" site.
Proper Job has been salvaging and selling useful items such as furniture, books, tools and clothes from an industrial estate on the outskirts of Chagford for 17 years.
Now it says the national park authority wants to restrict what can be sold, reduce private donors and force it to take down or enclose the portable cabins which serve as its offices and sales units.
The project's directors have urged the park to "move with the times" and say closing a centre whose only wish is to keep the local area tidy and sustainable is "absurd".
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Angharad Barlow, a co-operative director, said the conditions imposed were "ludicrous" and threatened to end the pioneering scheme.
"It completely restricts our ability to sell – we are a not-for-profit organisation and make the money to survive selling items the public bring in," she added.
"They say we are drawing trade away from the village but we have the overwhelming support of the public and traders and in no way are we a threat."
The centre was founded by local environmentalists long before the practice of recycling became uniformly fashionable.
Located at the rural Crannafords Industrial Estate, it was created in a response to concerns that much of the area's rubbish was going straight to landfill and could be re-used locally.
What began as a "one man and a barrow of compost" operation, now employs eight mostly part-time workers and diverts 50 tonnes of waste away from landfill each year.
The directors have been in discussion with Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) over a retrospective planning application for its portable cabins, some of which are stacked on top of one another, reaching two storeys in height.
Now DNPA has delivered its response in the form of a proposed section 106 agreement, set to be attached to any approval which is granted.
It says the upper containers are visible and give a "cluttered industrial appearance" to the site, within rolling farmland, and wants them removed or hidden from view.
Chris Hart, DNPA planning team manager, said they were not taking a "Draconian view" but described the "visual impact" of the two-storey cabins as "an issue".
Comments
by milesnagop
Tuesday, May 22 2012, 8:01AM
“*who's*. possessive.”
by Pablosi
Monday, May 21 2012, 10:27PM
“Times change gardenfairy and you have to change with them. You could send kids up chimneys once, we don't do that now, clean up your act and stop moaning.”
by gardenfairy2
Monday, May 21 2012, 2:37PM
“The place has been successfully serving the community there for over 12 years, so why start on them now though?”
by a torbay design
Monday, May 21 2012, 2:01PM
“i wanted to know because to many people use not for profit to try and push there side - where as a lot of these businesses are actualy making a lot of money and paying themselves large wages which makes them non profit.
if they are really doing this for the good of the area them good on them
if they are doing it to make loads of money then good on them.
BUT
if they are making money to survive then they should be given help and encouragement.
if they are making loads of money and using it for their own wages, then they should be made to correct and breaches themselves
Do you see what i am saying now ?
it seems a bit wierd tha they are on an industrial estate and having problems with the dartmoor planning, if they have breached regulations then it should be fixed, if they havent then there shouldnt be any problems.
and pablosi - you have quite a generalised statement there - the recyclers were set up by enviromentalists, and the dartmoor group pressing for action are also enviromentalists.”
by 2ladybugs
Monday, May 21 2012, 1:21PM
“My friend's father, who was a rag-and-bone man, will be laughing in his grave if he thought he was now being called an environmentalist. He used to be called a few things but none of them was very polite. He died a multi-millionaire getting rid of peoples junk for them. Strange how times change as they were thought of as the lowest of low certainly not middle-class missionaries.”
by Pablosi
Monday, May 21 2012, 12:52PM
“Every environmentalist feels he/she is above the law. They are missionaries and behave as such. However most of them have middle class parents so you better be ready for a 'war of words' and very long words at that.”
by 2ladybugs
Monday, May 21 2012, 12:37PM
“This takes the biscuit. It is on an industrial site to start with, not like it is sitting next to one of the Tors. They are serving a purpose i.e. recycling and whether or not they make any profits is not the problem. I hope they are actually because it seems a waste of entrepreneurship if they are doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. Can you imagine the uproar these days if the likes of Steptoe and Son were setting up in every district. It's a pity they no longer exist. Oh hang about though isn't that what "travellers" are doing? (and I will add no more as my comments frequently get removed if I carry on along this line) :(.”
by gardenfairy2
Monday, May 21 2012, 11:08AM
“why do you want to know what they earn?? Would you prefer they were on benefits?”
by a torbay design
Monday, May 21 2012, 10:18AM
“it would be intereting what the directors wages are in this not for profit scheme.”