Imagine you have inherited about 10 acres of land in the countryside.

What would you do with it (apart from the obvious building of a decent house) if there were no planning/use restrictions?

I would develop every conceivable natural habitat possible. IE ponds, heathland, moorland, hedgerows, woods, meadow, then open it up to school/college study visits at a small entrance fee. I'd encourage as much wildlife as possible and study it.

My lads would probably insist that I put 5000 sq m aside for a fullsize sports pitch.

I'd then sit back and gaze across my kingdom.

:thumbsup:

What would you do with the land?

i'd probably start by digging it all up.... well i'm an archaeologist what do you expect..... :D

Sell bits off so mobile phone companys could stick phone masts on it! :P

Originally posted by markham
Imagine you have inherited about 10 acres of land in the countryside.

What would you do with it (apart from the obvious building of a decent house) if there were no planning/use restrictions?

I would develop every conceivable natural habitat possible. IE ponds, heathland, moorland, hedgerows, woods, meadow, then open it up to school/college study visits at a small entrance fee. I'd encourage as much wildlife as possible and study it.

My lads would probably insist that I put 5000 sq m aside for a fullsize sports pitch.

I'd then sit back and gaze across my kingdom.

:thumbsup:

What would you do with the land?

A member of my family has just inherited some land like this. He helped an old guy for years to maintain his land and keep developers at bay. The old guy died and left it to him as he knew it would continue to be upheld in this way.

High rise luxury flats for the discerning IT exec???

I'd sell it and enjoy the money.

I like Markham's idea for the land a lot but I wonder if the lure of a quick buck would see me lose all my morals and sell it off the highest bidder.. I fear the latter if I'm honest.

Rent it to a farmer....then he's gaining from it, the land is being used and nobody is being hurt by it.

You beat me to it Classic Rock, I was just going to post the same thing.

I like markham's options excluding the sports pitch. Would also keep animals and grow veggies for us. Always enjoye River Cottage.

Moon Maiden

Most farmers already have more land than they can use profitably unfortunately.

10 acres is a pretty small area to do much with. Imagine a square of land about two hundred yards along each edge.

I would build my Psychedelyceum, but I would need a further 100 acres for the gardens.

Campsite! If it's in the country, there'll be a lot of walkers there.

Ask the National Trust if they have suggestions for use.

Consider what is nearby...if there's a big tourist attraction or point of interest, then it could be a car park or picnic area.....

Could always turn it into a private allottment and rent it out.

No, I'm sorry: I'd still sell it. Owning land doesn't interest me. I can enjoy looking at other people's land and have a few quid in my pocket at the same time.

Well, I would scream delightedly for three days solid, then get down to some serious work.
I would build my perfect ideal house - not too big, not too small, but using as many natural and environmentally friendly materials as possible. Then I would create my self-sustaining permaculture environment. I would grow all my own veggies and fruits, and keep chickens and geese and ducks for eggs and meat. I would have a goat and a donkey to fertilise my land and keep it healthy.
Then I would plant a broad leaf woodland, and build a tree house in one of the trees.
I would allow local groups to come down and use my land to learn about nature.
I would do all this, and be happy as a pig in s#'t!! :)

That's magic LittleWitch.

You can be my neighbour anyday,....... without the screaming of course :thumbsup:

Originally posted by LittleWitch
Well, I would scream delightedly for three days solid, then get down to some serious work.
I would build my perfect ideal house - not too big, not too small, but using as many natural and environmentally friendly materials as possible. Then I would create my self-sustaining permaculture environment. I would grow all my own veggies and fruits, and keep chickens and geese and ducks for eggs and meat. I would have a goat and a donkey to fertilise my land and keep it healthy.
Then I would plant a broad leaf woodland, and build a tree house in one of the trees.
I would allow local groups to come down and use my land to learn about nature.
I would do all this, and be happy as a pig in s#'t!! :)
you're going to want more than 10 acres (40000M2) for that. 10 acres is a measure of office space, not land :D

I hate to disagree with you Phan, but 10 acres is a significant piece of land. There isn't an office in Sheffield of that size.

I'd hold a Sheffield miniGlastonbury, on a sunny weekend of course. Get a few bands over, a few jugglers, bit of theatre, what could be better?

Originally posted by Tony
I hate to disagree with you Phan, but 10 acres is a significant piece of land. There isn't an office in Sheffield of that size.

Agreed.

Something like just over 8 football pitches isn't it.

Originally posted by Tony
I hate to disagree with you Phan, but 10 acres is a significant piece of land. There isn't an office in Sheffield of that size.

Don't hate doing it Tony, it does me good :D

The Chicago Sears Tower has just over 100 acres of office space.

Can't be arsed working out how much there might be in the arts tower, anyone?

I guess my point was that being self sufficient on 4 hectares is, whilst not impossible, going to be very difficult indeed.

Hehe, I will check out the arts tower but even as a guess, say it was 20m x 15m x 20 storeys that would still only make it 1.5 acres. The MSC is probably the biggest floorplate in Sheffield, but I will dop a bit of digging next week. From memory West 1 is about 350,000 which is 8 acres, so you might have a point I guess. :D

This webpage (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:7yn_CJGaAa4J:fox.rollins.edu/~jsiry/ghost.htm+how+many+acres+does+each+person+need%3F&hl=en) provides an interesting breakdown of required land for western living.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
10 acres is a pretty small area to do much with. Imagine a square of land about two hundred yards along each edge.


10 acres = approx 4 hectares which converts into (government planning guidance) producing between 120 to 200 houses. (30-50 per hectare)

just to give you another indication as to its size in 'real' terms

if it was in the countryside, I'd just lie there and look at the stars for a while, pure bliss with no 'street light' pollution.:)

Originally posted by Classic Rock
Rent it to a farmer....then he's gaining from it, the land is being used and nobody is being hurt by it.

My brother owns a piece of land exacly like that. It's a protected piece of land so he can't build a house on it; however, he does have a caravan on it, which he stays in on weekends. He rents the land to a local farmer who has sheep. They eat the grass and keep it fertilized plus it pays off the loan. He was dating a girl who had horses so he bought the land I think with her in mind. Anyway, he's stuck with sheep now.
Know what they say about Yorkshire? Where men are men and sheep are scared!

Originally posted by Funke88

Know what they say about Yorkshire? Where men are men and sheep are scared!

I thought that was wales....

I agree with smiler, a small sheffield festival would be cool. And for the rest of the year, let sheep, horses, and cows live on it. or any other animals come to think of it.

Give it to a friend of mine, who wants to do what Littlewitch says, on the condition that I could experiment with timber building techniques in odd corners. I have a hankering for a roundhouse...

Yep me too like Littlewitch, a house as environmentally friendly as possible, with some of it underground so not to spoil too much, with solar panels and a wind generator. (I would still have a washing machine though. :P)

And yes grow veg and fruit too, and chickens, geese, maybe the odd pig and a couple of sheep. A gun for the pesky rabbits and maybe the odd other bird. A lake the size of one of the pitch sizes to stock and catch fish to eat or better still a river that runs past the bottom of/through the land. Restore the natural hedgerows.

It would be very nice if it could be near the sea too, have a little boat to drop the odd lobster/crab pot.

Scotland would be very nice but it is warmer in Cornwall. Ah the dream.:thumbsup:

And i would be buried there too. Back to the land. ;)

Does that mean if we get some land we can have a Sheffield Forum communal living thing going???

Moon

You could build the Teletubbies house!

Originally posted by Moon Maiden
Does that mean if we get some land we can have a Sheffield Forum communal living thing going???

Moon

Sort of sitting around a camp-fire singing Cum-By-Ah? Or were you thinking of something a little more pagan ;)