TEV
An environmentally
beneficial
village structure
accessible to low income people

P.O. Box 1490
Murwillumbah 2484 NSW

AUSTRALIA

NOT WORKING ?

For many of us the system is not working.
We cannot expect to have a home of our own, a rewarding occupation, security and a satisfying life.
If the banks will even talk to us we are looking down the barrel of a 25 years crippling mortgage.
If we don't have a secure job, are unemployed or have no assets we don't even have that option.
The waiting list for Public Housing is more than seven years.
On our own, for many of us, there is no option.
But, working together with others in the same situation, we do have an option.
That's what the Tweed Eco-Village Project is all about.

THE PROJECT

With 200 households (about 600 individuals able to co-operate) we can fulfil most of our socioeconomic needs by integrating low cost, energy efficient homes' farming, small industries, services an d social activities.
Following sound economic and social practices our village will benefit our environment. We will be the first to profit from it.

HOW DO WE DEVELOP IT?

Using our various skills we form coordinated teams and earn an income designing, building and running our own village.
Part of the initial work includes industrial workshops, cabin accommodation, commercial kitchen, restaurant and nursery. These are our first businesses which we use for the construction of the village and to make money.
Because we co-operate and integrate our activities we eliminate waste and reduce our costs. What we do is simply good business.

OUR RESOURCES

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW?

There are many things to do and many things happening already.
Several individuals have formed small groups and are now working co- operatively on particular projects reflecting their skills and interests (nursery, gardening, woodwork, etc).
Others are involved in coordinating the various aspects and activities of the project (design, public relation, fund raising, coordination of our labour exchange system, etc.)

HOW DOES THIS BENEFIT US RIGHT NOW?

By creating a network of mutual aid around practical activities we are developing our economy and we are saving and earning money through exchanging services ancl products.
Alone we could not do it. Cooperation gives us the opportunity, for instance, to run a mobile coffee-shop, a market stall. and many other directly rewarding projects.

HOW DOES IT BENEFIT THE PROJECT?

Skill sharing, team work and cooperation prepare us for the development and running of the village. Friendships are built and the businesses of our future village are created. We acquire technical and social skills. We attract many active people and gain strength. We increase our income right now.
Because we help ourselves, our project becomes a viable option for public and private investors. Since our project is environmentally, socially and economically beneficial, these investments are tax deductible.

THE WORKSHOPS

To facilitate practical activities we regularly hold workshops where you can decide with others what you want to do and how to do it.
You can create a new activity or participate in an existing one. It's totally up to you. You manage it with your friends, or on your own if you prefer to work alone, freely and completely.
The coordinating team organises the mutual aid you need from other teams. When you need support you are not alone.

YOU CAN BE PART OF IT

If you enjoy co-operation, want to be active and productive, this project is yours. It's about doing it right now.

CONTACT US
(066) 72 1579
(066) 79 5121
Tweed Eco-Village Project
P.O. Box 1490
Murwillumbah 2484 NSW


TWEED ECO-VILLAGE

A SUSTAINABLE ECO-VILLAGE FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE.


A SUSTAINABLE ECO-VILLAGE STRUCTURE FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE.

CONCEPT

The Tweed Eco-Village Project, a sustainable Eco-Village structure for low income people, is a proposal for a totally integrated village system of low cost, energy efficient homes and infrastructure, built, by and large, by the population of that village. Surrounded by, and part of, an organic and sustainable food forest (Permaculture design principles).

Pre-planning, and integrated design, should be able to produce an environment where individual empowerment and responsibility can be fostered through co-operation and self-interest. The assumption is that human beings will co-operate if it is in their self-interest to do so. In other words, if it fulfils their personal needs and ambitions.

Current social, economic and environmental crises (e.g. pollution, unemployment, crime, inflation, foreign debt etc), can be rationally dealt with in this environment, because it makes maximum use of human resources. (Imagination, skills, energies, etc.)

Local, State and Federal government expenditures could be significantly reduced by such an integrated system. It should be possible to show that government expenditure on low income public housing, rent assistance and other welfare could be reduced, and eventually eliminated, by funding such projects. In terms of agricultural productivity, the possibility of increased yields would soon become apparent. The opportunity for business development (community and privately owned) is equally obvious. As an experiment, it would be evident in a relatively short space of time whether it was likely to succeed.

Design parameters for the physical, social and internal financial needs of the community, and possible legal frameworks are already available.

SELF-INTEREST, INDIVIDUALITY AND COMMUNITY FOCUS.

This project was first thought of in November 1995. Three months later it has in excess of 50 people involved.

The system we are developing is designed to utilise their skills, creativity and imagination because they, and any others who become involved, will co-operatively design it, build it and sustain it.

In an examination of intentional communities over the last 20 years, three main causes appear to contribute to any lack of success, lack of focus on the community being the result.

Since every living thing on this planet is self-interested, it would make sense to design for this in human habitation. If work for the community is valuable then it should be paid for. If initiation and innovation are valuable to the community then they also should be paid for. It becomes in people's own self-interest to pursue activities valuable to the community and themselves.

To create the permaculture environment required (integrated design), a lot of people are also required. There would be work available for as many people who could fit into a planned environment. Welfare recipients would have immediate paid employment. Fulfilling employment. Their own environment. Welfare recipients would quickly become tax payers. It would represent a significant saving to the welfare system!

We want to stress that this project is not designed to end up as a cheap multiple occupancy for welfare recipients who remain in that situation, but is the development of a true, economically viable community. Not only does the development itself immediately generate paid employment involving various skills (design, earthwork, wood/metal work, building, planting, propagating, teaching, catering, child-minding, entertainment, accounting etc...) which have to be used simultaneously in order to reach a stage of quick and easy completion (the process needs to be enjoyable for the participants and avoids any burn outs; it is then that co-operation becomes so useful!) but this paid employment is sustained through the creation of community owned (restaurant, nursery, joinery etc) and privately owned businesses.

Furthermore under the guidance of project teachers, a great number of skills would be learned and, with the creation of a multi-skilled population, it would be easy for these individuals to earn an income in the community businesses, or create their own, or, if they should leave the community, to find employment in the surrounding labour market. To this end we already have established contacts with the various State and Federal employment and training agencies (C.E.S., SkillShare, Job Club, Help and T.A.F.E.)

Can such a system be designed? If the people involved, in all their individuality, input their needs, and if those needs can all be satisfied in a system with the flexibility to continue evolving, then it must come close, and the result would be economic viability and self-determination.

WELFARE AS A TRANSITIONAL TOOL

. This project is essentially designed for low income people who, in one form or another, are also welfare recipients and constitute a large proportion of our local and national population By "low income people" we mean: Welfare is wonderfully intentioned and indicative of a caring society. However, with integrated strategies and specific targeting, the amount spent could be reduced and eventually eliminated. No additional welfare spending is required for this project, merely a redirection of existing funding.

RENT ASSISTANCE

A family with one or two children receiving family payment (yearly income up to $63,766 with one child, $66,955 with two children) can claim Rent Assistance if they rent privately. Up to $84,40 each fortnight can be claimed with one or two children; up to $95,60 with three or more children. Minimum rent before getting R.A. is $67.20 from March 1996.

$118 rent a week for a family with one or two children receiving family payment entitles this family to the maximum R.A. A minimum of $130 a week for a two bedroom house is to be expected on the current market.

Most low income families renting privately are then likely to get the maximum R.A. rate. An average of $45 a week, $2,340 a year, is spent on one family. $234,000 a year for 100 such families. About a quarter of a million dollars a year!

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT

A family on unemployment benefit receives $287 a week, $14,924 a year. $1,492,400 a year for 100 such families. About one and a half million dollars a year! People targeted by the T.E.V Project will most likely be recipients of both R.A. and U.B.. On the basis of these two welfare schemes the amount of money spent by the government on 100 such households is reaching $1,726,400 a year. After three years $5,179,200 has been spent.

OTHER SCHEMES

This does not take into account other welfare schemes such as Family Payment (maximum $93.10/$121.10 a fortnight, $2,785 a year), Parenting allowance ($62.80 a fortnight for one child, $1,632 a year), Childcare Assistance (up to $96 a week for one child, $4,992 a year), Childcare Cash Rebate (up to $28.20 a week for one child, $1466 a year), Sole Parent Pension (up to $335.90 a fortnight, $8733 a year), Guardian Allowance (up to $31.50 a fortnight, $819 a year), Carer Pension, Maternity Allowance etc. Because people will quickly earn a comfortable income through community and privately owned businesses the amount of money spent by the government on these welfare schemes will be reduced and eventually eliminated, e.g.: Sole Parent Pension is made obsolete as the community structure (child care on site, flexible working hours, etc) allows sole parents to take up paid work.

PUBLIC HOUSING FUNDING.

85,000 individuals are at this moment on the waiting list in Northern N.S.W.. Funding in this area is significantly reduced and eventually eliminated.

SUBSIDIES FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING SCHEMES, SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES AND ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS.

The areas these existing schemes address are being practically responded to by the TEV Project. (Permaculture eco-design, community businesses, hands-on training through the process of community development: building, wood/metal work, landscaping, horticulture, catering, teaching, etc...)

INDIRECT SAVING

These strategies represent concrete direct savings to the public purse. Indirect savings are also large. Environment Such an ecologically sustainable environment is waste free therefore non polluting and environmentally beneficial.

Policing

Crime is unlikely to develop to any great extent in an environment where individuals are empowered, employed, secure and fulfilled. Real self interested focus on the community would produce an almost infallible and spontaneous Neighbourhood Watch.

Health

Environmental and social factors of disease (polluted environment, stress, insecurity, lack of motivation etc) are positively addressed in such a project. The public health bill is consequently reduced.

Child care and education

These areas would be seen as community responsibilities. Relationship breakdown Again seen as community responsibilities (design for housing mobility, conflict resolution and community support). Environmental and social factors contributing to relationship breakdown (unemployment, poverty, lack of community support, stress etc) are greatly reduced and so is the public funding presently spent in this area. (refuges, welfare, courts, counselling, emergency housing etc)

Roads and transport

Because individuals can live and work in their community the need to commute is reduced with a positive impact in terms of road maintenance, petrol consumption, pollution etc.

Inflation

A healthy and productive local economy relieves inflationary pressures, a) through an increased autonomy in terms of the production/consumption pattern. b) all the savings generated by this project reflect positively on the basic price of goods and services.

Foreign debt

Lower prices on goods and services means less imports, more exports (see inflation). As previously mentioned this project is designed to create local industry. Welfare, although wonderfully intentioned, is not sustainable. Our country can't afford to do it for ever and certainly can't afford for it to get larger and larger. We can't afford either the social friction and consequent divisiveness (people who are not welfare recipients and paying taxes are often resentful of people on welfare and welfare is demeaning for the recipients). On the other hand, to cut welfare without developing the appropriate strategies for its elimination is a recipe for civil unrest and social disintegration. An alternative is welfare as a transitional tool.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DESIGN

VILLAGERS INPUT

For this project to succeed it must fulfil the needs and aspirations of all the potential participants. To this end their personal input has been sought and their needs have become the elements around which this project is being designed. The strategies which have been used to successfully elicit input from individuals will become an ongoing feature of the community structure.

SIZE

As previously mentioned the permaculture system (integrated design) regards human beings, their skills, imagination and energy as the primary resource. To reach the level of diversity and cooperation required for the development and sutainability of the village a minimum 150 people (50 households) up to a maximum of 450 people (150 households) would be necessary. A structure which is large enough to fulfil the need for variety but within which all individuals have a chance to know each other and create diverse levels of relationship. Although the development starts with less individuals involved than the "required minimum" it has to be planned for an optimum number that will be reached very quickly.

VILLAGE ECONOMY

To focus energy on community development a system of labour exchange is introduced in the economic structure of the village. Individuals do not buy their way into the community but, according to their skills, do paid work in the various areas related to the development and sustainability of the village (building, manufacturing, planting, catering, administration, etc). They earn credits which have a dollar value and are able to cash part or all of their balance at any time through the community fund (funding capital and profits from community owned businesses).

Although their income offers them access to two different exchange systems (the internal community labour exchange and the external cash system) it is recorded and has a dollar value and is therefore taxable like any other type of income. Because a number of Labour Exchange Credits corresponding to the cost of anyone's personal zone have to be earned the L.E.C. system creates real wealth (productive labour translating into community facilities and income generating industries). To encourage focus on the community and help prevent dissipation of community energies LECs would be exchangeable for dollars, but dollars would not be exchangeable for L.E.C.s.

The village L.E.C. system will use computer network technology ensuring quick and relatively foolproof accountancy. Open access to information (transparency) would provide for personal security and accountability.

Co-operative schemes using a Labour Exchange Credit system have worked very well in the past, particularly in giving low income people access to home ownership. In post WW2 France when, as a consequence of massive destruction, housing had become a major problem ,"Les Castors" (the Beavers) enabled thousands to build and secure a home through self interested cooperation and L.E.C. systems.

LAND TENURE

The land and public infrastructure is community owned. Private buildings and infrastructure are privately owned but cannot be sold on the real estate market. When villagers decide to leave the village, the community purchases any private buildings and infrastructure at a price reflecting the real cost of the full development.

In fact villagers own more than their private home and infrastructure. They co-own, according to the level of their contribution, the entire public infrastructure since their contribution has been fully credited. Very productive villagers will earn a large LEC balance they can cash at any time.

DECISION MAKING

An efficient (quick, cheap, convenient and simple) decision making system is made possible by a similarly efficient communication system. Information about projects and their development is constantly disseminated throughout the community for input. Possible objections are regarded as positive input for the design of the project. Since the process is cooperative rather than competitive it provides the innovator(s) with access to the creativity and imagination of all those in the community who are interested in the project. The resulting integrated design is once more disseminated for further input and the recruiting of a workforce. Incorporating that input and obtaining the workforce is all that is needed for the project to proceed. Consensus has been achieved and community funding is automatic.

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INCENTIVE

Innovation and creativity are essential to the development of the community and need to be rewarded from the level of conception to practical realisation.

Ideabank and Research funding.

Ideas and/or practical research about solving perceived problems and improving standard of living (design improvements or radical innovations) in all areas of existence (knowledge, education, technology, art, social organisation, health etc.) are funded by the community. L.E.C.s are issued to reward both ideas which have been expressed in the "Community Input Board" (the on-going wish list system) and energy spent in researching solutions. Teacher/project-leader bonus and pension. Innovators, teachers and project leaders receive a double hourly rate L.E.C. during the time of their actual participation in the implementation of their new system and a weekly-paid L.E.C. pension (a percentage of an average weekly income for the lifetime of the system or themselves, whichever comes first) once they have designed themselves out of the running of the newly created system. This strategy not only fosters the expression of creative thinking, the pursuit of practical research, the dissemination of information, the taking of responsibility but also the development of systems which are automatic, require little energy input and are self-regulating. Funding for innovations come from the profits from community owned businesses. In the initial stages this would have to be included in set up costs.

GENERAL ECO-DESIGN

Design parameters are already available based on permaculture principles and previous community development experience. Permaculture design skills are prolific in this project and the Permaculture Institute is located in this region.

FIRST STAGE DEVELOPMENT

Once major earthworks are completed (roads, house sites, swales, dams and water systems etc.) construction of the village centre can begin. The village centre will include: This initial infrastructure provides the capability to house, feed and nurture the first settlers in the village. They constitute the initial work force. As houses are built, chalets become available for subsequent settlers building up the work force. When the village reaches capacity this chalet complex becomes accommodation for tourists, visitors, students, emergency housing and a source of income to the community. The nursery would provide the propagation of the horticultural products needed to accomplish the overall planting design. The workshops would make possible the mass production of building and furnishing components. The commercial kitchen would make possible the processing and value adding of foodstuffs. The restaurant, commercial kitchen, nursery and workshops have the potential to earn outside capital immediately as they could be open to the general public. They become the first community owned businesses.

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

As has been shown in this proposal, the installation of an integrated computer network in the village is vital to the efficient realisation of;- Installation of this system in the first stage development would be relatively inexpensive and, indeed, commercial sponsorship may be available.

CONCLUSION

Resources in terms of potential villagers, design skills and tools, other practical skills, peripheral assistance, and some private land use proposals have been gathered and are growing. Funding is now necessary. Your input in this, or any other, area would be welcome.