Tasmania’s First Earthship Event

Tasman Ecovillage Association (TEVA) will be hosting Tasmania’s first Earthship event this month. Rachel Goldlust of Earthship Australia is coming from Melbourne to share practical and inspiring insights into what it takes to build an Earthship – in preparation for a possible Earthship building workshop at the Village early in 2014.
 
Earthships are the “epitome of sustainable design and construction. No part of sustainable living has been ignored in [these] ingenious buildings.” An Earthship utilises the principles of Biotecture, a mix of biology and architecture, and aims for buildings and community environments designed with consideration for environmental sustainability rather than relying on traditional carbon-heavy building designs and materials.
 
Rachel, a graduate of Earthship Academy, will be presenting a 3 hour workshop and information session about this revolutionary building technology. There will be a slide presentation, the Tasmanian premiere screening of “We Are the Plans – Australia’s First Earthship”, a documentary about Australia’s first Earthship build, and a Q and A session. The workshop runs from 2 – 5pm on Saturday 11th May and all are welcome to attend.

Earth Ship

Chook Palace :-)

Delighted to announce the construction of a new chook shed! The other one was a little small and the goats were a bit over their rather exposed little one in the goat enclosure so …. a new improved one has been built alongside the old one. The chickens now have lots more room and the goats have a larger warmer shelter.
 
The shed was built in SIX HOURS FLAT from recycled materials by the amazing team of Tijs, Ashley, Paddy and Caitlin. Tijs, a Dutch cabinet maker, led the crew and …. WOW … what a fantastic result! Thank you so much you fellas :-)

Chook Palace

Chook Palace

Chook Palace

Chook Palace

Only One Apartment Remaining!

There has been incredible momentum in the village over the last few weeks, to the extent that we now have only ONE of the seven 2 bedroom apartments in the village remaining for sale. They are currently part of the existing motel complex but, once the community development scheme is registered (in a few weeks), they will become a residential part of the village.
 
You can buy the apartment as an investment (it is currently tenanted and shows nett 6.2% return) or, if you wish to live there, the tenant could move to another rental in the village.
 
Price is $129,000 and includes ownership of all community land and facilities. We can provide full costings and projected returns on request.

Unit 9

Unit 9

Death of a Golf Course

…. and rebirth of native vegetation!
 
From the 1970's until recently a large part of our ecovillage site was a golf-course, along with all the mowing and manicuring and poisoning and fertilising and introduced species that went with it. Since it’s purchase in 2007, no chemicals have been used on the land and, more recently, many areas have been left to regenerate. It is heart-warming to see how quickly the local species are bouncing back. As the village develops, it is our intention to not only preserve but also regenerate areas of native vegetation, creating wildlife corridors and encouraging animals and birds back onto the land.

Golf Course Regeneration

Golf Course Regeneration

Golf Course Regeneration

Success at SLF

12th November
 
If constant conversations and questions for two days are any measure of the interest in our presence at the Sustainable Living Festival then you can say it was a HUGE success!! Many enquiries came from people who had already seriously contemplated living in an intentional community. Their reasons were many and varied but included: lower living costs, food security, energy autonomy and living in a more co-operative, supportive culture.
 
Some enquiries came from people who were coming across the idea for the first time – “What a great idea” was a common response. One person talked about her desire to live a more self-sufficient life but realised this was a huge task for a single family unit; she could see that sharing tasks and resources made a lot of sense. Another person (a software developer who travels regularly overseas) was attracted by the idea that he could plant a garden and have food crops that don’t die while he was away!
 
It was really inspiring and motivating to be around so many people looking to live lightly and lovingly on the earth and with each other :-)

Sustainable Living Festival 2012

Sustainable Living Festival 2012

New Website Launched

Well, I guess that is a bit of a no-brainer since here you are at our new website! With a revised concept and other exciting developments in the project over the last year, we felt it was time for a fresh look. Please take a good look around and get in touch if you feel for it. Since the website is so new, we very much welcome any comments, feedback or glitch reports! Enjoy … and hopefully see you in the village soon :-)

CDS Approved!

Tasman Ecovillage Community Development Scheme (CDS) was approved by the Land Title’s Office in September. It is the first of its kind in Tasmania and we are really excited by the possibilities, not only for us but other intentional communities in Tasmania and, maybe, the rest of Australia. The CDS offers all the usual benefits of strata ownership, which include title to your land and shared common property, together with flexibility for governance and land tenure systems.
 
Approval of the CDS means we can move forward with welcoming people who would like to purchase and build in the village and we are really looking forward to this next stage. Many thanks to Andy Hamilton for the long hours and huge heart he brought to this part of our project!