A retired farmer wants to build the first "zero carbon" house in Sussex.

Desmond Gunner, 83, has unveiled proposals for a self-sufficient solar and bio-mass fuelled four-bedroom home as part of a plan to conserve the county's countryside.

Mr Gunner, who received an MBE for working on national countryside organisations, wants the occupiers of the £400,000 house to take responsibility for 20 hectares surrounding it.

He said a covenant would ensure whoever moved into the proposed house would have to maintain the fields and woodland on the land.

The south-facing curved-roofed building would be set into the contours of a site at Bryckden Farm in Blackboys, near Uckfield, and would be built entirely from locally sourced materials.

He said: "Farms are disappearing fast from the High Weald because they can no longer make enough profit for farming to be worthwhile.

"This means land is being sold by farmers, who were traditionally expected to look after the countryside, and falls into the hands of people who aren't bound to maintain it."

Mr Gunner, who is involved with the International Tree Federation, was keen for wood from sweet chestnut trees to be used. The species is common in Sussex but has few major uses.

The building has been designed by Koru Architects, based in Brighton, with the intention of having the lowest possible carbon emissions. Its shape is intended to resemble dwellings which were common in the Sussex Weald during the iron age.

Architect Mark Pellant said the house would be glass fronted enabling it to trap heat from the sun and heavily insulated, using natural materials, so the energy would not be wasted.

Most of its power would be generated by a bio-mass boiler run by burning wood from a coppice on the land and other waste. This in turn would aid the maintenance of the area.

Mr Pellant said: "We envisage that the house will be able to return energy to the national grid."

He said the roof would be lined with solar panels and would collect rainwater which would be used for flushing toilets and drainage. A reed-bed system would enable the residents to filter their own sewage.

Mr Gunner hopes the innovative nature of the house will convince planning officials to grant permission to build in an area where development would not normally be allowed.

He conceded he would now be too old to run the land, part of what used to be his farm, and said he wanted to attract people with the financial resources to pay for its upkeep to live in the house.

The planning application will be considered by Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council on Monday, April 2, and by Wealden District Council at Pine Grove, Crowborough, on Thursday, April 5.

A similar house, called the "Earthship", is on display at Stanmer Park in Brighton. Plans have been submitted for a development of several of the buildings alongside Brighton Marina.

Would you consider living in "zero carbon" housing? Write to letters@theargus.co.uk or post your comment below.