Jazz is one of the early members and was part of the excitement when the Ecovillage Cooperative won the tender to purchase the site from the Department of Primary Industries in 2012. The last 12 years have been a roller coaster ride stretching back to setting up the cooperative with just 20 adults who had put their life savings on the line to create a demonstration ecovillage. The numbers have increased over the years and there are now approximately 240 adults and children in the membership. Not everyone has built their homes yet, but Stage 2 has been subdivided and homes will soon be springing up.
“I was never settled in suburbia and did many things while trying to find out what I wanted in life, travelling, yachting, studying, working 2-3 jobs at a time to fund the travelling. I heard about communities and ecovillages and started visiting some of them and one day came to Narara with a friend. I came through the gates and knew this was it!”
Taking ownership of the 63 hectares necessitated people living on site. Jazz applied for and was appointed the Admin Officer along with Tony who became the Site Manager and moved on site with his family. The only other house on the property was the Heritage House which has a 100-year-old history. Five other members moved in and for years, the 9 members were the only people living on site. All the others had to travel to come and do working bees, hold open days and start working with council to get Development Applications lodged.
‘Everyone was so excited! The DPI buildings and sheds all needed to be explored, rationalised and some demolished. Life was choc-a-block with setting up an intentional community. Both my daughters were very supportive of my move from a corporate job to taking up a part-time position for the cooperative. Mum, they said, you’re still young enough, go for it! It’s now 2024 and I am still the admin officer.”
Building a house was a new experience for Jazz, it was a long wait from 2013 when the ecovillage settled on the land to building in 2019. There were many hurdles to overcome while the council got their heads around an ecovillage development in their ‘hood’ but it was all worth it. Situated on a north-facing lot, Jazz’s home has a 9-star rating with good views and a productive garden.
“During Covid my neighbour Chris and I realised we needed to learn how to grow edible food. We had the advantage of drawing on the knowledge of gardening members with permaculture backgrounds. We all compare notes and information, share seeds and plants and I now LOVE gardening. I usually have excess produce which I share with Candy & Katie at our Coffee Cart. If you come for a cuppa and a meal almost 100% of your meal will be organic and grown on site”.