Latest Update - Oct 2021

• Fundraising for our projects

• Updating our website

• Promoting the implementation of Council's decision to facilitate second dwellings/dual occupancies on communities

• Election candidates housing policies

Dear community members and supporters,

Let us update you about recent developments on the intentional communities front, our initiatives and projects.

Please feel free to forward this to other community members who may be interested.

Fundraising for our projects

Our present most urgent projects are:

1. Updating our website, making it a valuable resource for communities in the Northern Rivers. To achieve the plan explained further down we need to raise $1000.
   

2.  Financing planning and legal advice in order to further Council's decision to seek a workable pathway to allow extra dwellings on intentional communities. For the initial  report prepared by a planner plus legal advice to present to planning staff in early November we need to raise $2000.

Both projects will enormously benefit communities, both established and upcoming and we are asking you as an individual member or a whole community to help make it a reality by contributing donations.

Donations can be made by direct deposit to:

BSB 728 728
Account No. 2233 4394
Name: Northern Rivers Intentional Communities

Updating our website

Since we've started our organisation we have been receiving an overwhelming number of inquiries from communities, individual members of communities, aspiring members of communities to be created, as well as people seeking to join existing MOs and CTs.

The main subjects of inquiries are planning, legal and insurance issues, housing opportunities, regularising buildings, creation of new communities and opportunities to join existing communities, among others.

There is a real need for a one stop shop information resource and a community notice board.

We need to create a space to publish research and investigation into communities matters and expand the conversation.

This website update has become even more urgent now as Council voted in August for both opening the door to the creation of new rural intentional communities and seeking opportunities for extra dwellings in existing communities.

A budget of $1000 is needed now plus some extra for the monthly hosting fee of this site.

Promoting the implementation of Council's decision to facilitate second dwellings/dual occupancies on communities

In our last newsletter we informed you in detail about Council's motion from 5 Aug: To Investigate how to enable a workable pathway to facilitate secondary dwellings on Multiple Occupancies and to facilitate secondary dwellings and/or dual occupancies on Community Titles.*

In order to make Council's decision a workable reality in the short to medium term and to clarify what are the planning opportunities for communities, we need to invest in initiating the investigation ourselves.

We have contracted a planner and sought  legal advice to prepare a preliminary report at this stage so as to identify:

• In which communities second dwellings are permissible immediately with only a modification of consent condition.

• What changes need to be made to LEP or DCP in other cases.

• What needs to be negotiated with State Gov.

• We have elaborated on this in our previous newsletter.*

By taking this action we are looking to achieve the best and quickest outcomes on the 'second dwellings front' for communities, and by doing so we would also be contributing to the diversity of housing so desperately needed in the shire.

A budget of $2000 is needed now to realise this initiative and we ask you to contribute by donation.

Election candidates housing policies

We have been following closely, and been engaged in, a series of meetings about the housing and environmental policies of Council election candidates, and promoting the cause of intentional communities and housing solutions in general.

As policies are being rolled out as we speak we encourage everyone to get themselves informed and involved in the conversation, a lot is at stake.

This week, Wed 27, 7.30pm, sitting Mayor and Mayoral candidate Michael Lyon and his Independents team are going to present their housing policy in an online meeting. Housing Emergency Solutions - Byron Independents - Policy Focus series events.

Michael Lyon was instrumental in passing the landmark motion asking to facilitate second dwellings on intentional communities. He is now also organising for us a conversation with senior planning staff scheduled for early Nov.

In the face of the declared Housing Emergency in the shire it will be interesting to find out what plans the Independents propose.

We'll keep informing about other candidates policies that concern us.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas and receiving your contributions,

Avital Sheffer
For the NRIC team

View our past newsletters