15th and Final Share is Sold !   July 2001

The big news of 2001 has to be that the 15th share has now been sold.  After 6.5 long years of meeting possibly hundreds of prospective individuals and families, the initial process of finding 15 foundation share holders is now over.  This is a significant milestone for any community of this type, and for ours it marks the start of a new direction of focus in that we are now completely out of debt and we can seriously begin work on a multi-purpose community building.  The design process has been going for a year already and we are now at the point where we are consulting architects and getting some plans on paper.  The construction and completion of this community building will undoubtably be a major goal for the community in the next couple of years and its completion will also mark another significant milestone in this community's development.

We also continue to tackle the issue of getting all our shareholders onto the land.  With significant expenses involved in buying a share and difficulties getting mortgages with only the share as colateral a number of families are having difficulty financing the building of something to live in. There are currently 7 families living on the land with another one moving out soon.

We are currently in consultation with the Department of Conservation over the covenanting of almost half of our 169 hectares.  The surveying has been done and a map made.  We are close to finalising this which is yet another significant step for our community.

As part of our consents with Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council we are required to provide a public walkway through the length of our property.  After a number of years of having difficulty getting an easement at one end of the track we have finally made an agreement with a neighboring property owner and this walkway should be offically opened this spring/summer.

Simon Griffiths