One Planet Living with Tao Wimbush and Morag Gamble at Lammas Ecovillage, Wales

Dec 1, 2020

Join Tao Wimbush, founder of Lammas Ecovillage and expert in sustainable living, as he shares insights on One Planet Development. Discover how this unique off-grid community in Wales thrives on permaculture principles, with costs for homes around £20,000. Tao unveils the village's decision-making structure, innovative water management, and energy resilience through a shared hydroelectric system. From natural building techniques to the affordability of rural land, this conversation offers practical inspiration for anyone interested in eco-friendly living.

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INSIGHT

Policy That Enables Rural Permaculture

One Planet Development allows people to live in countryside if they build naturally, live sustainably and remain productive with the land.
Tao explains this policy changed Welsh planning to permit small-scale, land-based living instead of industrial agriculture.

INSIGHT

Permaculture As Practical Relationship

Lammas functions as a permaculture village combining land care, community and practical skills from alternative community experience.
Tao frames permaculture as rooted, practical and relational rather than purely technical.

INSIGHT

Hybrid Of Autonomy And Shared Systems

Lammas blends autonomous household plots with shared formal systems where needed, like hydro management.
Tao emphasizes varying degrees of communal interaction and both formal and informal exchanges.

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For this episode of Sense-Making in a Changing World Podcast , I am in Lammas Ecovillage, Wales with the founder, Tao Wimbush. I loved visiting this community and was so warmly welcomed by Tao. I hope you enjoy this conversation - full of so many practical tips for one planet living.

Lammas is an off-grid permaculture village with a community of 50 adults and many children, with interesting natural homes and is the first One Planet Development Ecovillage in the UK. Tao tells me how it is possible to buy land and build a home like his for around 20,000 UK Pounds. That's incredible! There is a lot of potential for young people to create land-based communities like Lammas in the Welsh countryside very affordably. We tour his house - it's beautiful and hand-crafted from local resources.

Tao and I talk about the ideas behind One planet Development, how the village works and why people come there. He helps others make a shift to this way of life through education and consulting and is an expert in One Planet Development.

Tao is the author of 'Birth of an Ecovillage' and presented an internet TV series 'Living in the Future'. His background is in architecture and carpentry, and he's lived in a wide range of alternative communities, and dwelled in tipis, yurts and roundhouses.

I recorded this conversation pre-covid when I was in Wales last year, and will release the extended version with tours of the landscape and common spaces soon.

Lammas was featured on Kevin McLeod's Grand Designs.

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This podcast is hosted by Morag Gamble, founder of the Permaculture Education Institute - the leading-edge international online school for integrated permaculture design, education, leadership and [pr]activism.⁠

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