Well, how poor am I, at keeping this site updated?
Firstly, the matter of will we/won't we build it: sort of.
The QS report finally arrived last week, to a chorus of "Jeez that's a lot". It didn't take us long to realise that even cutting every corner, we just don't have that much money, or even the ability to borrow it. Inflation, transport costs, material costs, the war in Ukraine, all have contributed to the tripling of the cost for build. I don't really do regrets, but if I did, I would wish we'd been able to complete the project in 2020. Chalk up one more victory to the gods of red tape.
Many plans B were then discussed:
- Leave it until the prices drop
- Put a caravan on it and live cheap
- Use it as an outdoor popup venue
- Sell it
All were rejected except the one obvious choice: build a timber framed house inside the chapel walls, and make whatever repairs are needed to preserve those walls, to stop them deteriorating any further. We get to keep the site and live in a fantastic place, and possibly without going into debt to achieve it.
This means we're at the very beginning of another planning application. Plans for the grounds and the basic structure of the place haven't changed - we will still open the graveyard as a woodland walk, we'll still use part of the property to run community events, gigs, weddings etc - these will now happen in the old Sunday school grounds at the west end of the site, instead of inside the old chapel walls.
For the house, we're thinking 3 bedrooms, with a flat roof, maybe even a green roof. This won't be higher than the chapel walls, so the site will lose none of its beauty. Here are a couple of line drawings done by the wonderful Jeremy at Poulter Architects:
There will be a good sized gap between the house and the walls, allowing for a nice cloistered area for decking, bits of garden etc.
The temporary steel structure which currently holds up the front wall will have to be replaced with something more pleasing to the eye (and permanent) which allows us to use the front entrance. Over to the structural engineer for that. The temporary structure cost £20,000, so we're a bit concerned about the next bill.
Our hard-won access road, which we still haven't built due to doubts about planning conditions, will have to go on hold until the new planning application is complete. We'll be contacting the Town Council, who lease us the land, for permission to halt the lease payments for that period. We really need to save now, and £360 per month on a field we don't use is hard to sustain.
Estimates vary on how long planning will take, but best guess is six months.
