A man whose home was nominated for a Unesco biosphere award now faces a court battle to avoid being made homeless.

Dan Richardson, who lives in a self-built hut in the north of the island, is being taken to court by the government as it seeks to evict him.

For just over 18 months, Mr Richardson has been living ’off grid’ in his home, near Crossags, Ramsey, where he grows his own food, uses river water and has spent years cleaning up the woodland.

Mr Richardson, who is being helped by friends, supporters and his MHK Daphne Caine, told the Courier that he built his home for a total cost of £77, with many materials and items donated to him by well-wishers. He said the hut become his ’solution to a potential homeless problem’.

He added that his way of living is sustainable and something that should be promoted given the climate emergency declared by the government.

At the 2019 biosphere awards, Mr Richardson was praised by Environment, Food and Agriculture Minister Geoffrey Boot for his sustainable lifestyle.

Mr Richardson said: ’The Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture are supposed to be promoting sustainability but they want to effectively make me homeless. What I’m doing is just a small part of it, but the bigger picture is the environment and biodiversity.’

The legal issue with the DEFA comes from its claim that the land Mr Richardson is living on infringes onto DEFA land by three metres, which the department said means he is living there as a trespasser.

However, Mr Richardson said that, despite several trips to the Land Registry, it had not been possible to determine who actually owned the land before the DEFA started its moves to evict him.

During his time in the area, Mr Richardson says he has removed tons of scrap metal and other rubbish, which has built up in the woods over the previous decades, helped with installing fencing to protect the woods from grazing livestock and planted numerous species of native plants and trees.

Mr Richardson said if he loses in court, it will make him homeless and reliant on government for help to find somewhere to live, something he doesn’t want.

’I’ve never taken a penny from the state and I don’t want or need financial assistance or a flat in town. If I was living in a flat, being helped by the government, I’d actually be quite sad as there are people who need it and I don’t because I have my cabin’, he said.

Fully aware of how he may be viewed by people, Mr Richardson admits he may be described ’as an oddball’ but counters that by saying ’more people should be encouraged to live like me, semi- sustainable and caring for the environment’.

Hoping to avoid being evicted, Mr Richardson said he wants to find a way to resolve his dispute with DEFA and to ’help promote sustainability’.

If he does have to go to court as planned today, Mr Richardson said he ’just wants a fair hearing’. However, he has not been able to secure legal aid.

In response to our query about Mr Richardson, a DEFA spokesman said: ’The government can confirm that a planning enforcement notice to quit, and subsequently a court summons, has been served to the occupant of a wooden cabin in the Nut Glen area of Ramsey.

’This area of land is owned by the government and no consent or planning permission has been sought for the structure, and the occupant has no permission to be there.’

The court hearing is scheduled for November 25.