Our founder Lyndall Parris wanted friends around as she grew older, and dreamed of a village approach. She visited many ecovillages, and saw Sociocracy and Permaculture as great ways forward, and formed an association to search for a suitable site. Around 400 joined her association, and it looked at more than 100 sites before settling on the former NSW Horticultural Institute at Narara near Gosford.
There are now around 200 living on site in 2025, with 60 homes built out of the final 150 homes. A high performance building standard has allowed any type of home presenting an opportunity for innovative designs, materials and techniques. It has also paved the way for a grant from the federal government to create one of the first community energy systems to attempt to use solar energy and a community battery.
We aspire to live at a low impact and have embedded our principles in our By-laws, including minimising waste, water, energy and greenhouse gases. We have also developed ways to improve our community cohesion and resilience.
Leave a Reply