Takaka Land Purchased for Eco-Village

Liv and Graeme Scott are thrilled to announce that their offer to purchase 14.5 hectares of residential land in Takaka has been accepted!  Located on the corner of Meihana Street and Rototai Road the pair aim to develop an eco-village on the site - a public space encompassing community gardens, a communal house and around 60 possible tiny homes.

This proactive duo co-founded Tiny Lifestyle and are also the organisers of the popular ‘Living Wood Fair’ in Golden Bay for the past two years.  They also run the week-long Timber Frame Joinery workshop, which just finished for this month, and have many years of experience in the UK with eco-building. 

“This is a long-term dream being realised,” says Graeme.  “And we’re grateful to the support of some forward-thinking social entrepreneurs who offer Golden Bay the chance to expand the community with a sustainably-built village.”

Adds Liv: “It feels like a massive undertaking, but one in which we are fully supported.  There’s a real need for this in Golden Bay so we’re pulling together the threads from work being done here already, and are weaving it into something tangible and accessible to everyone, where people want to put down roots.”

“We’ve spoken to the schools in the area and they “are very supportive of the initiative,” says Simone Kidner, another co-founder of Tiny Lifestyle.  “We want to work with the students sharing ideas about the site’s design and amenities and the wider community to inform us what they need.”  

Last month we hosted our first ‘cohousing picnic’; providing an opportunity for people to come together and discuss possibilities and ideals.  “We want to gather people’s ideas around how they would like to live, and be the catalyst that will support the group to make plans and turn thoughts into action,” Simone explains.  “The great thing about the co-housing concept is that you have a small or tiny private space, but access to much more open space, sharing resources and allowing for more interactions and friendships. It just feels like how we should live, not in isolation.  It’s better for the environment and society as a whole.”  

“It was great to connect with so many like minded people.  There were so many fantastic conversations had, and an open exchange of ideas, information and experiences,” says Liv.   Our second event took place on Valentine’s Day which “was another positive, energetic exchange of information and ideas,” says Simone.

The next Co-housing Picnic will be held on Saturday March 14th 2020 and we will be exploring values for the development.  Located at the Community Gardens so the kids can run around and play while people chat. A kai contribution would be appreciated. All welcome.

For more information please visit www.tinylifestyle.co.nz