To introduce myself: I presently live in a small community in Motueka, and I have family and interests in Nelson so I would be prepared to move to the city if that is where a housing co-op eventuates.

My bottom line is 'intentional community' of some sort - having experienced life in such a community, I am not interested in living in suburban isolation again! The co-housing model, such as Earthsong in Auckland (https://sites.google.com/earthsong.org.nz/home/about) ticks most of the boxes for me. Their vision is: "to establish a cohousing neighbourhood based on the principles of permaculture, that will serve as a model of a socially and environmentally sustainable community." Being in a large city, the details of Earthsong will be different from co-housing in Nelson, but the principles still hold. I look forward to living in my own small house, built of natural and recycled materials; able to grow some of my own food; sharing produce and skills, support and fun with others in the community.

I have a decades-long interest in co-housing and I have accumulated resources - mostly books - and helpful contacts. I also have a keen interest in global finance and money and how it works, and I have been involved in savings pools in NZ since their inception about 10 years ago. By putting all these interests together I came up with a co-operative finance system to protect the savings of those who have some, while making home ownership possible for anyone, without an interest-bearing mortgage. The system was designed with co-operative housing in mind and is based on a co-operative company structure.

As a superannuitant, I have time to commit to a co-housing project, and I am keen to use my accumulated experience and resources.

Hi all, i have lived in Europe for many years but back in NZ now and interested in living in an intentional community with like-minded people with a wish to live in harmony with the environment and with each other. Self sustainability also seems like a worthwhile goal. Have lived and worked at a number of retreat centres over the years and love the richness of a wide variety of people and multicultural conversations. I share Sonia's dream of "living in my own small house, built of natural and recycled materials; able to grow some of my own food; sharing produce and skills, support and fun with others in the community." I think that sums it up beautifully.!!! ;) Would like to hear more about the co-operative finance system. My background is in community/ care work and my interests are music, reading, meditation, yoga, chi kung, photography, walking/ being in nature, and natural medicine.

I came across this very informative documentary by Hamish Keith, made in 1983.

"The housing crisis - made this documentary 35 years ago about our last crisis and what we did - sobering"
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/city-and-suburb-part-one-1983

Hi Denyse Kinraid here. Long term Nelson resident at the seminar on 18/2.

It would be good to present a united front on housing to the people who can facilitate sensible housing options, and people who want to move in a practical direction getting together can do so much more than individuals.

I have been talking to Jutta who was at the seminar and the person who put up all the email addresses and she will try to come to our next meeting. She is thinking about joining loomio.
Also Jace wants to come.
And myself.
So that is three for 12pm

Then Yvonne and friend Deborah coming I'll see if they can come for 12pm
Then Sonia and Jenny - are you available for 12pm or soon after?
And Doug Craig - I haven't asked him yet, so will do that for same time.
I'll report back asap and tell you about Yvonne and Deborah and whether I have heard from Doug Craig.

If you Sonia and Jenny like 12 pm could you say.
And then we will be set for a good meeting.

I have Saturday 18 March Zumo Rutherford Street Nelson (opposite Bridge St traffic lights) as venue.
I see your doodle Jenny for 2/3 but haven't done one for 18th as I wanted to tell you where we are at as well as get times.)

I note that you have put up some info Sonia and haven't looked at that yet but I will.

A friend was saying that local government's hands have been tied in doing much about housing since the Local Government Act - there was one in 2002, made tighter in 2010 and 2012 it seems. I've put link in to try and understand what we are up against that our wonderful politicians have seen fit to impose on us. It is from 2004 and sounds interesting but NZ legislation may have been changed in 2010 and 2012.
http://www.mdl.co.nz/site/mckinley/files/resources/LGNZ_affordable_housing_2004.pdf

Jace, I have copied your introductory emails below so that we can have your valuable comments permanently recorded in this thread. They could be the basis for discussion at our meeting on 18th.

On 21 February Jace wrote:
hi All. I think we have a strong case to approach Council with a plan for a Co-housing arrangement on Council land. It would have the density and low impact on other services that Council would like and they may be aligned to the ethic as well.

This is a very practical consideration for us, because it is both economical and socially attractive at the same time. We would have to work out the thorny issues of dogs, weed control sprays, and housing design, but I am sure we can do this. Each decision the group makes will make some less interested and get new interest from those aligned with that concept of value. We have members, including me, that have successfully been in this process before, and there is gold at the end for those that stick to the vision of mirco-village cooperative living.

regs, Jace

followed by this on 23rd:
There are two issues here, and they are potentially attracting very different strategies. One is the public policy direction of the Council, which Teresa has outlined in a call to action. The other is voting with the feet, and building a model community under our own initiative. I think nothing stands in the way of this happening, just our own resolve and willingness to work thru the process.
Many of us will be interested in both, and they are not exclusive. My main interest is in the realization of a co-housing community. I dont think we can expect that NZ policy makers will lay the groundwork for us in this effort. Property valuation increases are championed by most policy makers and government has done next to nothing to protect middle earners and the young from speculation on land and houses. Most of them are speculators as well. While we can add our voices to this chorus for reform, who among us thinks that this will lead to fundamental policy changes that limit speculation and create real affordability? Not me.
Developers almost always create housing that does not create the kind of interdependence and interaction within a community that our group has voiced and is considering. Yes, policy changes can adjust that, but not in the fundamental way that we are considering (with co-housing, for instance).

My vote is for us to continue on a rather independent effort towards an interdependent community that many of us long for. We can vote with our feet. We can lead the way by example and bring young families back into the fold of security with us.

This particular comment is some thought about today's philosophies, not just about housing but living and thinking styles. So skip it if you're looking for housing facts.

Changes that we are suffering from now are happening at unprecedented pace. So our own philosophy is something that we now need to pay more attention to more than probably ever before in life. Now I near the end of my life, I am trying to bring together my experiences, understandings, in anxiety about the certainty of difficult changes in the near future.

And right up there is the importance of a place to live, belong and be yourself, and still work in with others trying to be on good terms with all. This includes the influential people in society, house planners, legal controls, banks and the financial legal system, landlords, body corporates, etc. The housing situation is bad because we have been careless about ensuring the country runs to provides the basics for everybody, with opportunity for individual enhancement.

How do we need to think and act as humans today, feeling under stress and pressure, not free to enjoy fewer work hours and a fine life as was promised by the cheerleaders of modernity and machinery in the 20th century. Some may have this, but then the question arises, are they happy themselves with what they have? Aren't they always feeling they need more? So that myth that we would all be better off and happy as modern times progressed is wrong. There is no idea of what is enough, humans are wanting people; now we realise that we want something different.

Our very lives are shaped by the way that our society does things, and we live and die according to the way of society, and its influence on the way we think about and do things. Yet our personal thinking influences others, but sometimes we have to look for those other like-minded people ready to make change. We need to find others who have defined what is a good life for themselves and others while still retaining individuality and a personal path, and be involved as a collective to form supportive groups for the opportunity of a meaningful, satisfactory life.

Jenny and I had some emails going about our housing group and I thought much of it should go up on loomio so here it is.

1 I and others haven't got round Doodle yet, first step to loomio. Also I note that Doodle is a tick box thing. I don't warm to it because I think we need to do two things about planning meetings, one is to give our preferences - that Doodle does well, but to also add some chat, info. . While Doodle is efficient I am convinced that we need more meaningul communication between like-minded people. So a comment or info in loomio first and then Doodle also to help in planning would be my request to group members.

2 Date for meeting etc Saturday 18 March 12pm to about 2pm or so at Zumos Rutherford Street Nelson right by Bridge Street lights. People have had enough time to be able to put it on their calendar if they are interested and not too busy overall.

3 We already have about 8 people interested and keen so there will be a majority of those at meeting. We can improve on this no doubt in future, but may have to be fair and travel out to Motueka occasionally. Because of travel distance, and busyness, we may never have more than about 6 people, with others updating from our loomio reports.

4 I am not sure who you mean by the - housing action group - as there are a number in the community already, some links below. By the way anyone who meets with some housing group should give us some details on loomio. Keeping up with the current moves and possible facilitators even if they are not mainly interested in our idea of co-housing will be useful.

Our group meeting together this time actually puts some 'body' into our communications and good to have face to face so we know who we are talking to and understand each others particular interest. I am not interested in meeting with people on email list who are interested in general co-operative ventures, it is housing that we are all focussed on (can't do everything).

Some people may like to join Voice Nelson, know what we have found out and then go to Voice Nelson meetings. They are a citizens action group. We need to be wired into all that is happening and be involved in numbers of outlets, from which we should then give basic details to the group.

Here are some links that background housing plans and activity around us:

http://nelson.govt.nz/council/plans-strategies-policies/nelson-housing-accord-and-special-housing-areas

Voice Nelson is politically active and stirring about lack of good policy and very interested in housing, so not allowing government to sit back comfortably saying its too hard. Their slogan -
Dedicated to voicing "alternative narratives" to the regular public discourse in the Nelson/ Tasman area.
Recent news item on their involvement:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/90146492/community-group-urges-nelson-city-council-to-establish-housing-advisory-group
Started in 2014: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/64084728/group-to-give-nelson-a-new-voice
Get in touch thru Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nelsonvoice/

https://www.nelsonhousing.org.nz/
This is the email address for Nelson Tasman Housing Trust.

5 This is useful stuff from Jenny that was emailed out to all and I'll add it here so it gets archived.

"One of those options is to encourage national and/or local government to provide affordable state housing and also affordable new houses in general. New legislation was brought in to support the provision of affordable housing hence the development of the "Special Housing Areas". However the legislation seems to very weak in that it does not put any requirements on developers to make sure that the new housing is actually affordable.

So in reality it seems that the Special Housing Areas are only special in that they are a way of bypassing existing legislation such as the Resource Management Act etc, speeding up the consent process for new housing to be built. Nick Smith apparently sees no need to make it a requirement that the houses in the Special Housing areas is affordable, even though the explicit purpose of the new legislation is to provide more new AND affordable housing. So perhaps this is the area that the Housing Action Group is focussed on?

Another option is to encourage both local and national government to allow the use of land for communal living and-or to actually develop a new housing community which is what this group seems to be interested in if I understand correctly."

Hi Meeting held today in Nelson at Zoomos. I thought it was very successful, we talked and listened to people's experiences and ideas arising from that experience.
We all learned much and the will is there to get something going so anyone who is dithering, get on board and be involved to some extent, don't just sit back and watch.
I am thinking it is time to start off on a new thread. But to have some sort of efficient archiving which I haven't as yet learned about perhaps we could start a new one at the beginning of a month if the old has a lot on it. And presumably we can go back and check on what was said on the older ones, I hope. I am now going to read the help section about this. More will go up about meeting, from one of us.