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Friday 9 July 2021
Building a new community
Building houses and a community: future residents and organisers of the Takaka cohousing neighbourhood. Photo: Supplied. ALISTAIR HUGHES
A room full of enthusiastic potential homeowners gathered at Mohua Social Services on Monday for an update on Takaka’s cohousing development. Since the purchase of 14.5ha of land on the corner of Rototai Rd and Meihana St in January last year, neither a global pandemic nor planning bureaucracy appear to have slowed this initiative down. Tak ak a Cohousing Neighbourhood representatives Simone Kidner and Sarrah Jayne brought the gathering up to speed. With 20 homes in the cohousing development already reserved, the purpose of this meeting was to invite local interest in the remaining 14 houses. Sarrah opened the meeting by taking everyone through the principles of living in a cohousing community, with shared resources, a strong ethos of sustainable living and collaborative decision-making. This encouraged questions on a wide variety of subjects, including pet ownership, washing lines and general expectations of residents. A body corporate fee of around $2500 per year would be required for the general upkeep and maintenance of common areas. These include a common house with a shared dining hall, a community lounge, laundry and even
a library. There will also be an outdoor event space, community gardens and orchards. The house plans were then presented and discussed in more detail. Only double-storey homes remain available, with seven two-bedroom and seven threebedroom options to choose from. All the houses are semi-detached, with neighbouring homes mirroring the same layout. Though final costs should be confirmed in September, the two-bedroom homes are estimated to be between $525-575,000, and the threebedroom options between $625-675,000. Payment of a deposit of 10-20 per cent in September will enable new residents to secure their home. As the Takaka Cohousing development is a not-for-profit project, the confirmed sale prices will reflect the actual costs of building, including the common house and land. Having designed the homes, architect Simone fielded more technical questions; including one about the use of an interior facing product called magnesium board. This prompted an audience member to jokingly suggest that it must also be good for joint pain. Passive solar principles and sustainable insulation material have been incorporated into the plans, and each dwelling will have its own freehold Unit Title. Local interest was certainly apparent,
Architect Simone Kidner. Photo: Alistair Hughes.
and Golden Bay residents are invited to begin the application process by visiting the Takaka cohousing website: https://www. takakacohousing.co.nz/apply The next residents’ hui is scheduled for October/November, where successful applicants will be able to meet the rest of their new community. With TDC resource consent anticipated in August or September, building will commence early next year, with completion in 2024.
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Council Matters SUBMITTED BY CELIA BUTLER
At its meeting on 4 June, Tasman District Council voted 12:2 in favour of commissioning an independent investigation on the Waimea Dam. Its purpose is to review and comment on the quality of advice and background information provided to council leading up to the decision of 30 November 2018 to go ahead with the dam. I have always supported an inquiry in some form, otherwise there will be a legacy of too many questions remaining. There has been a lot of concern in the community and among some councillors as to what information the decision was based on – when the cost of the dam was predicted in some quarters from the start to be a lot more than the $95m, if not double that. The question arises: how independent can this inquiry be, given that it will be organised and paid for by the council? Some in the community are concerned about this. Inquiries cannot be plucked off the shelf, however. An inquiry by the Auditor General was requested and was turned down. The only other option is a ministerially ordered inquiry or a“sponsored”inquiry, the relevant type being a “public inquiry”; however, the Minister would only intervene with that when the council has exhausted its own options. So this leaves the council needing to ensure on behalf of the community that this inquiry is as independent as possible. The Terms of Reference will need to be approved by council, and developed under the supervision of the Audit and Risk committee, which has an independent member who will lead this. The community can be confident that this is standard best practice. It also provides flexibility to be as wideranging as necessary, though that range needs to be balanced against cost. In contrast, a government-sponsored inquiry would have very specific, and possibly a narrower, Terms of Reference. To avoid bias, or the perception of bias, no staff or councillors will be involved in the investigation and analysis. They will, however, provide information, as will previously elected officials. Because the review will cover and assess the overall quality of the advice and background information, input from community stakeholders who were involved should be able to provide... Continued on page 2
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Inside: Woodchopping THE GB WEEKLY, FRIDAY 9 JULY 2021
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ISSN (PRINT) 2538-0923 ISSN (ONLINE) 2538-0931
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