- Have YOU embraced off-grid living? Email tom.lawrence@dailymail.co.uk
An ex-BBC star who quit her high-pressured job in TV for an off-grid life in the woods has reflected on how ‘proud’ she is to have built her own zero carbon home.
Former journalist Abigail Beck, 47, chose to leave her job at BBC Wales Today behind in favour of an eco-friendly country life with her husband Marcus.
The couple signed up to a scheme under the Welsh Government’s One Planet Development policy.
However the scheme means they must abide by zero carbon rules and will be monitored for five years to ensure they meet certain criteria.
This includes being close to zero waste, zero carbon and 100 per cent powered by renewable energy.
The couple’s home, which has been featured on the Channel 4 show Grand Designs, was built using wood from diseased trees that needed to be removed.
It also uses recycled glass and recycled newspaper for insulation.
They also run a community garden which provides around 35 per cent of all their food.
Designer Marcus, 50, said: ‘It scrutinises every part of our living from how we’re going to buy clothes in the future to what food we’re growing, what food we’re eating.’
Former BBC journalist Abigail Beck, 47, and designer Marcus Beck, 50, outside their eco-friendly house
The couple’s home was built using wood from diseased trees that needed to be removed with recycled glass and newspapers
Under the Welsh government scheme the couple must provide all their own energy and water
The couple set out to build the home with a budget of £100,000 but setbacks occurred and costs began to spiral and soon had to borrow from relatives as they spent £150,000.
Marcus said: ‘The big challenge was choosing the right materials which often cost more.’
But he said it now meant they had ‘a great solar power system and tonnes and tonnes of power’.
The One Planet Development policy allows zero-carbon buildings to get planning permission in areas where it would not normally be granted.
Under the OPD rules, permission can be granted if developers can make a basic income off the land and provide all their own energy and water.
The couple’s unique deal with One Planet Development meant that they didn’t need detailed plans to build their new home and didn’t have anything drawn up by an architect at all.
The scheme also means the couple can ‘never sell’ the property due to the nature of the planning permission obtained through the special policy.
The structure of the property was complex to fit the environmental brief, consisting of 27 pits filled with recycled concrete and topped with a boulder for low-impact foundations.
The home was featured on the Channel 4 show Grand Designs earlier this year
The property was initially costed at £100,000 but ran to £150,000 as costs began to spiral
It was built on a 20-acre plot of woodland purchased by Marcus’s late father more than 30 years ago.
Abigail said: ‘You have to be able to live a modern lifestyle, but it doesn’t have to be hugely carbon-hungry.
‘I’m determined to say this is something you can be proud of, this is something Pembrokeshire can be proud of to say that they enabled this.
‘Wales can be proud of, they have enabled this kind of creativity to flourish and its in a sustainable way.’
