Interesting news and information

12/6/17 No,.2
I think this would be the news item that Jutta referred to - from Seddon Marshall.

Could relocatable 'crane-a-homes' solve our housing crisis?
"But former Nelson city councillor Seddon Marshall thinks his "crane-a-home" idea could be a real solution for the affordable housing shortage.
Marshall, who has been involved in the building industry for 65 years, has written a detailed proposal and secured meetings with the Nelson city and Tasman district councils to explore his ideas further.

His "crane-a-home" design was six-by-three metres and included a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and laundry."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/92004103/could-relocatable-craneahomes-solve-our-housing-crisis

does anyone know how to contact Seddon Marshall to find out if these meetings have happened yet and any outcome?

Hi Jutta
We have taken note of the item about Seddon. Interesting, but we too are pursuing meetings and concentrating on Co-housing ideas and plans that we have prepared. We are getting ready for the coming public meeting to present them on Thursday night, 29th June. This will be about the present plan and changes may be made after discussion with interested people who come to the meeting to hear and discuss the proposal. We are getting interest already. His idea would be extra to that.

hi Denyse
thank you for your message.
i am now moving to christchrch so wont beinvolved in nelson at present...good on you for going ahead!!!
best wishes
Jutta

Hello Jutta,

Sorry we won't have you in our neighbourhood, but best wishes for your new life in Christchurch.

Sonia.

Sonia CorbettEmail: [email protected]

Mobile: 021 190 1290
Skype: sonia.corbett3

A few people have mentioned the "crane-a-home" idea. I think it's a great idea, but possibly even better is to base the dwellings on tiny houses. Here's why:
- Tiny houses maximise the use of internal space and makes for an efficient use of materials;
- They can fit a lot - I think the maximum dimensions are around 3m x 7m and 4.5m tall. That allows for mezzanine levels that add even more space;
- They are very easy to keep warm, especially with passive solar heating and good insulation;
- The houses can be arranged (and even rearranged) for the best use of external space for privacy, for passive surveillance or for orientation to the sun, depending on priorities;
- The houses would be on purpose-built trailers, but once they are in the right place, you can use

Perhaps another reason for looking at tiny houses is that it might make the whole issue of land availability a bit easier. If the houses are on wheels it might be possible to look at locating them in low-lying areas where occasional flooding (a 1-in-20 year return period) might otherwise make the area a no-go for housing. If we could explain that the houses could be hooked up and towed to higher ground if the stream gets to a certain level, we could make a case for allowing the co-housing project on land that otherwise couldn't be developed (and would therefore be cheaper). There might be land like this in the Maitai or the Brook, which would make it an attractive distance from town.

I'd be interested to know what people think of the idea.

Hello Mike
I am sorry to disagree with your idea of tiny homes,but for me it would not be a good fit. I think they are great, when you are a solo person, maybe a couple, but for a family with children like mine it's not such a great fit.
I come from Poland and where I uded to live its normal for families to live in flats. They were tiny, myself and my family (5 ppl) lived on 40 square meters and it was a bit of a nightmare: sharing a tiny room with two of my siblings, parents sleeping in the bigger room that during the day transformed into a living room. The flat was allwas clattered and messy, no matter how much tydying you did, within a minutes it turned into a mess: one blouse here, newspaper there, plate somewhere else and in such a tiny space you can really see it. But the worse of all was the lack of privacy, we had no place to sit on our own, to think, to relax. Someone was always near, making noise, having a light on when you wanted dark, having music on when you wanted quiet, with such tiny space and lack of privacy and own space threre were times when there was a lot of tention. After 20 years of this I dont want to go back to it.
The fact is that kiwis like their space, when I came here it surprised me how much space kiwis need. Funny thing, the space savers that kiwis seem to discover now, where widely spread in Poland since I can remeber. I never had a bed, always a sofa or foldable armchair, the tables, desks were also foldable, seets that turned into storage spaces, we had it all. I like them and I don't need so much space, I dont wish to have a big house with two lounges, tv room, separate laundry and Good knows what else. But two, preferabely three bedrooms for me is a must, so if my kids want to hide away from everyone they will have that oportunity, so when I want to read a book I won't have to listen to my husband's TV, I want to have a kitchen where I can move around and wont always hit my elbows or forhead over a piece of furniture:)

Hi Mike and Alina,
Both of your conversations are interesting. My view is that it would be good to have some of the design advantages of tiny houses as suggested by Mike, but at the same time cater for those who need more space and privacy as highlighted by Alina. This would be expressed for example, as well-designed small (rather than tiny) houses, allowing for space for privacy to be alone or in groups of like-minded people. This would be achieved both within dwellings and the community space.

I like your comment- smart efficient design but not necessarily tiny.

Just a reminder that needs to be repeated apparently. Date your comments at the top please. It is good to get continuity, to place thoughts in reference to the present.

And the interesting thoughts and experiences that Mike and Alina give to us shouldn't lead us to push some ideas aside, thinking that tiny houses are not a good idea because they don't suit everybody. What we need to affirm, what we already know, is that at different stages of life we need different designs. And also that we all need a place to be ourselves with our own individual thoughts and need to concentrate and do things alone, and also much of the time we need to be in an enjoyable community that shows respect for us as individuals.

So a family needs room, children may share a room with bunk beds for a while, then an older or younger may need separate space etc. And childrens bedrooms might be small but say if they were separated by bi-fold doors which could be pushed open then a clear space for play could be created in a small house.
Just an idea. And with our interested members producing innovative ideas , we will want to record all these as possibilities which may be tried out say in one cluster of five or six of differing bedroom numbers.

As for tiny houses, as Mike suggests they would be an innovative way of housing
especially where there would a need to shift in future years. And they would be great for young people single or in early years of their partnership. So I think tiny houses should not to be dismissed but I don't see them in our primary plan, principally because the land we find will be of importance in our design, and also we want joined-up clusters for thermal advantage.

But personally for future consideration, I think that co-housing needs to grow with
a number of options serving different needs. I think it would be good for people to link up with a permanent co-housing site newsletter early on before they needed housing, and start to build relationships with others, get ideas for possible housing. That's for the future but if you could find other people with whom you felt aligned, it might be that people could buy a house in joint ownership with good quality legals. But I am not taking that idea further at present. Some could keep the idea of a continuing newsletter in mind, and continue taking a friendly interest in others thoughts and suggestions, even when in their own place happy and satisfied.

Haha I got so deep in discussing ideas that I didn't put the date. This is Saturday, 8 July 2017.
Regards Denyse