Otamatea Eco-Village

Location

Kaiwaka, Northland

Stage

Established

Date Initiated

1996

Date Completed

Resource consent was granted in 2001 followed a few years later by Individual land titles.

Housing Type

Ecovillage based on Permaculture

Number of Residents

About 50 adults (including lot owners and tenants) / 2 children

Number of Dwellings

About 20

Size of Land

100 ha overall, made up of 22 private lots between 0.4 and 2.0 ha in size, leaving 70 ha of common land.  Shares in the common land are typically 1/15th or 1/30th

Developed By

Self developed

Legal Ownership Structure

Initial land purchase by a company (Otamatea Limited) formed by the founding couple Reinhold Huber and Lynne Hindle. On joining, other members became directors and shareholders of the company. After the individual titles had all been issued and sold, the company was wound up with some unused capital distributed to the shareholders.

Individual Dwelling Tenure

Freehold titles which all include an undivided share in the common land.

Funding Model/s for Development

Owner equity as loan to the company and private loans.

Housing Type and Numbers

Stand alone, complimented by sleep outs, barns, workshops etc. 22 private lots.

Shared Facilities

70 ha of common land, haybarn, meeting room, access road.

Total Cost in Year Completed

With the original 15 lots sold for $80 - 90,000, we had a total budget of about $1.2 million. The land was purchased for $500,000.

Governance Model

Consensus with no back up for majority voting.

What were the external barriers experienced during development?

Getting Resource Consent was a very slow process. We also changed from Unit Title to Freehold Title in our process, which caused extra cost and further delay.

What were the internal challenges during development?

11 of the 15 original lots sold quite quickly – the remaining four took quite a bit longer.  For a time there was pressure to sell to reduce debt. In recent years seven of the 15 lots have been subdivided by their owners – there are now 22 lots.

There is unresolved conflict because the red card in the consensus system has been used as a veto card, leaving the group paralysed. 

If you had your time again, would you do anything differently?

In the design, I would make provision for community business and for small places that young and old people in particular can rent.

I would not again delete the majority vote as a back up option from the consensus decision making.

What advice would you give to aspiring projects starting out?

Go for your life !  All intentional communities I am aware of have roller coaster and pressure cooker phases.  Even though not everything turned out the way I would have liked it to, I can’t think of a better place to live.

Insist on a strong commitment to conflict resolution. Have a back stop if you use consenus.

Have a design established very early on and don’t change fundamentals to accommodate people who come later.

Further Information and Contacts

http://otamatea.info/

Can People Contact You Directly to Ask Questions?

Yes - Wolfgang & Sabine ph 09-431 22 31 / pukahusw@gmail.com