Man of straw tries to keep the planning wolves from the door

A man who built his house out of straw may be homeless next week if planners carry out their threat to play the big bad wolf.

Ecologically correct Brian Stinchcombe discarded wood, bricks and mortar and opted for straw bales to build his dream abode.

But he did not ask for planning permission.

Planning officials have been huffing and puffing ever since they spotted the straw house, on his farm on a national park, and will decide on Tuesday whether to blow Mr Stinchcombe's home down. But the man of straw, of Llanfihangel Cwmdu, South Wales, is resolute.

Mr Stinchcombe, who keeps Welsh mountain sheep, pigs and a few cows, as well as growing organic vegetables which he sells at a market stall in Crickhowell, has vowed to appeal to the Welsh Office if the decision goes against him.

Officials at Brecon Beacons National Park are worried that the 40ft by 20ft dwelling in the scenic South Wales countryside will open the way to more requests for building.

They have advised the planning committee to refuse Mr Stinchcombe retrospective planning permission for his three-room bungalow.

In 1994, Mr Stinchcombe was ordered to sell his 80-acre farm, in the national park, as part of his divorce settlement.

A few months later he was able to buy back 50 acres and he and his son Sam lived in two caravans on the site. But Mr Stinchcombe, 52, developed pneumonia and realised, for the sake of his health, that he had to move out of the caravan.

He and his partner, Valerie Adams, heard about American straw homes on Woman's Hour and decided to give it a go. He began building in November last year.

Planning officials say the proposal defies the park's policy, which prevents land holdings being split into sections for people to live on. And they say Mr Stinchcombe has to prove that his 50-acre smallholding is economically viable.

Mr Stinchcombe's unfinished home has cost him pounds 10,000 so far. Water is piped from a spring. There is cylinder-gas heating and a coke-fired stove in the kitchen.

"The outside is finished. My next task is to build a bathroom and to line the inside walls with a lime-based plaster with horse-hair mixed in to bind it. The insulation is great - it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer," said Mr Stinchcombe, who lives with his five dogs and three cats.

Ms Adams said: "Brian's very quiet, very kind and very hard-working. He doesn't ask anything from anybody. He pulled himself out of a very nasty financial situation. I can't believe the officials have recommended turfing him out. Luckily some committee members seem supportive, some even buy his vegetables, so we'll just have to wait with our fingers crossed." But Martin Fitton, chief executive of the Brecon Beacons National Park, said the planning system was there for a reason.

"People are expected to make an application before they build, not after, as in this case. It has been built in the middle of the countryside - what would you say if it was made from breeze blocks?

"It does not fit in with the local plan and the officers have recommended refusal. The question the nation has to ask themselves is whether or not they want a planning system which will be enforced."