Nature & people,

as nature intended.


Living with nature and living with eachother.

Getting started.

No one has all the answers. This will be an evolving process that will use many tools, guides and methods to get us there, I mostly worry that if we dont get together now and get this show on the road, affordable land will become unavailable and the possibility of living an organic farm village lifestyle will disapper. We need to organise how we will collectively buy and administer the land, and while that's happening, produce a list of agreements that all can live by.

So if you're past the talk the talk phase and are ready to walk the walk, come on in.

Here is the proposal so far

We are on the lookout for others who, once acquainted with Cohabitat, would be interested in giving some time, energy or kudos to it. Looking for advice, nudgers, pokers and prodders. I propose the formation of a Building Society, the purpose of which is to give legal structure and formal administration to the accruing of money from multiple sources for the purpose of buying land for the members of the Building Society to live on as farmer-gardeners. Places of local community and organic agriculture, on collectively owned land. There are some similar and well established ventures in the UK, USA and Canada that are succeeding in similar endeavours, including ecologicalland.coop, thefarmerslandtrust.org, youngagrarians.org, landforgood.org among many others, who are building and growing commons and local food communities around the world. New Zealand desperately needs to get this under way before the land becomes out of reach. To unite people who want to grow their own A+ diet, live in affordable housing and set the scene for a new generation... agro-ecological lifestyles done with discernment . We need leaders, advice, legal structure, a constitution, an boarding process and land, land, land! I don't think we make it happen with just email and web presence. It will be in person, at local food and community symposiums, a higher octave of the farmers market, whole days and weekends of community, food, learning, talks, presentations, events and pot luck feasts, where face to face and heart to heart exchanges grow the energy and build the resources. I invite any and all feedback..

So how does this work?

Land that is practical, desirable and affordale is out there, and costs from around $10k - $25k per hectare, depending on location, size and many other factors. See the Where page.

Before we realise this, we have 2 issues to address.

Q1. Buying the land.

Q2. Being able to live on it.

A1. Set up a building society of some kind.

A2. Working with councils.

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Note all figures are ball park but give an idea of costs invoved.

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Using Trademe (a New Zealand sales and auction website) as a guide for land fit for purpose and pricing, We chose 8 examples of farms and other land most suitable for settlement, (Check them out here).)At the time the prices varied between $8k - $18k per hectare. That's an average of $13k per hectare, with those properties being between 10ha and 300ha. There will obviously be some variance in the land area, cost per hectare and number of people a property can support.

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What will I live in? Essentially what ever you want. (as long as it is within the local council guidelines) .

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Food.... We will become master gardeners among other things, using natural regenerative practices to produce an A+ diet for all.

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Governace and management Sociocracy is main contender here. Google it if you need to know more. But we will use everything in the toolbox that works for us and evolve as needed. This is the make it or break it for most coliving endeavours, so lots of effort and being real lives here.

To build a path to accessable and affordable nature based agroecological lifestyles for people who are ready, and give them the tools to get there.

So if you like the ideology, no matter where you are, get in touch, and be the change.

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