We've bought land! | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Robin Allison (ecohousingxtra.co.nz) | |
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 04:00:53 -0500 |
Hello everyone, This is a somewhat delayed but joyful announcement now that I'm getting my breath back.........we have bought land!!!!!!!! After nearly 4 years of preparation, Waitakere Eco-Neighbourhood Cohousing Project, in Auckland, New Zealand, put a deposit 4 weeks ago on a beautiful 1.67 Ha (4 acre) property in Ranui (on the western edge of the Auckland suburban area). It has been an organic orchard for 30 years, and is just dripping with fruit at the moment; apples, pears, feijoas, kiwifruit, guavas, plums, grapefruit, etc, etc. We'll be saving as many of these as we can, and planting more. It's 30 seconds walk from the metropolis of Ranui (a dairy, 2 x medical centres, bakery, chemist, hairdresser, community centre, library), 7 minutes walk from the railway, 5 minutes drive to the motorway (then 15 minutes into the centre of Auckland); in short, just perfectly placed for access to community facilities and public transport, if a little further out of town than we'd hoped. It's a really exciting and busy time, selecting architects and a project manager and completing legal documents. The project budget is taking shape, and promotion and membership activities are in full swing. As the first cohousing project in New Zealand to get this far, there's a lot of pioneering work in choosing the best development structure to suit our laws, but we find a lot of enthusiasm and support for the project, and it's great to hear all the learnings from the list! We take over the property in November this year, and plan to begin construction in October 2000. We plan to build 26 houses and a common house, with associated commonly owned facilities and open space. As well as passive solar design, sustainable and non-toxic materials and other 'green' architecture principles, we're planning to incorporate solar hot water heaters, rainwater tanks, and on-site stormwater disposal, grey water recycling and waste-water treatment on a neighbourhood scale. Half of the 26 units have so far been spoken for by members active in the project. In the next few months we'll be refining what we want and designing our community in association with our architects. So it's really full on! Meetings, meetings, meetings. The next couple of years will be enormously challenging I'm sure, but now we are grounded. We've planted our first tree. Robin Allison Waitakere Eco-Neighbourhood Cohousing Project Auckland, New Zealand.
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We've bought land! Robin Allison, April 22 1999
- Re: We've bought land! PattyMara, April 28 1999
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