Welsh Hippies Win!

Katherine Mangu-Ward | October 1, 2008

A lost tribe of dirty Welsh hippies (no, not reason's noble leader and his family—that's Welch) become honorary members of the Leave Us Alone Coalition:

For five happy years they enjoyed simple lives in their straw and mud huts. Generating their own power and growing their own food, they strived for self-sufficiency and thrived in homes that looked more suited to the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings. Then a survey plane chanced upon the 'lost tribe'... and they were plunged into a decade-long battle with officialdom....When the pilot reported back, officials were unable to find any records, let alone planning permission, for the mystery hillside village surrounded by trees and bushes....Yesterday that fight, backed by more modern support for green issues, ended in victory.

Hilariously, the mud hut dwellers had to provide some sort of environmental impact statement as the final step before finally being left alone:

'We had to prove we were improving the biodiversity of the area and conserving the woodland and we did that."