Nature-loving Kate Burrows and her partner Alan built their home out of tree trunks, mud and straw after being forced out of their rented home by her permanent flu-like symptoms. Kate, who has lived in the hut in Tarka Valley, near Chumleigh, Devon, for 19 months, says the extreme move was prompted by her rare condition – Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
But North Devon Council say the couple have broken planning laws – and have given them until December to move out. Distraught Kate said: “This is our nest, this is our everything, this is our art. “We have sculpted it with our hands from the soil.
“I can’t go back to being ill like that, it fills me with absolute horror.”
Kate and Alan spent six weeks building the hut on their smallholding after she said living in a modern home “was like having flu all the time”.
Their home has an outside compost toilet, kitchen, living area and two bedrooms.
She added: “I think it’s really important that people like are us are allowed to live sustainably on their own land without causing any damage.
“This is normal life. We’re collecting water, we’re chopping wood, we’re growing food.
“Isn’t that what everyone has done throughout time?”
North Devon Council planning officer Graham Townsend said they were left with no option but to take enforcement action.
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