Plans to bring hutting back to Fife

A planning application has been submitted to Fife Council by Falkland Estate Trust, seeking permission to change the use of Cash Strip Wood from woodland to hutting, with the aim of constructing wooden huts.

The 50 hectare site, off the A912 to Strathmiglo, would house 15 of the huts, each within a 15x15m or 10x20m plot of land.

The huts would be used by families and individuals for private use, and would not be connected to mains water, electricity or sewerage, with heating coming from wooden stoves.

Ninian Stuart, chair of Falkland Estate Trust, which owns the land, said it’s likely the huts would be the first of their kind in Fife.

“In 2010 I had a challenging year and was pretty stressed,” he explained.

“With the help of a local carpenter we built my little hut. It’s my favourite place in the world. It’s a little place for an over-busy person.

“Within a year Reforesting Scotland had turned it into a campaign.

“The idea of a simple hut has been lost in modern times. It is to get away from the madness of life.”

The Thousand Huts Campaign was launched in 2011, with the aim of promoting huts and ‘hutting’.

Ninian said that there are major benefits to the hutting lifestyle.

“There is something about getting away on your own to a quiet place,” he said.

“Somewhere you can relax and breathe more slowly and step into the natural world that is around us.

“We tend to try to do more, to consume more – and there’s something to just having a simple hut and living more simply.”

The Falkland site would be managed by individual hutters through the Hutters Association, and the group would adopt rules and guidance which each member would sign up to.

To read more about the campaign visit www.thousandhuts.org.