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Requests Newsletter Team The Newsletter team is putting out a request for articles, points of interest etc, have your say, share your knowledge. If you are interested in making a contribution, or have any queries about the structure or content please visit www.somervilleecovillage.com.au/newsletters and read the Newsletter Structure, Content and Submission Guidelines, then send any newsletter contributions to newsletter@sev.net.au If you are interested in sending in an article but not sure what to write about you may like to write a short article for the new section My Story, that is an article explaining who you are and how you become involved in SomerVille .
Rainbows over the Yellow Shed Project Updates Milestones The below table is a list of the proposed milestones for the SomerVille Ecovillage™ Project. Please note these are not facts they are goals and so dates may vary. This list is effective from the 30th January and already may be a bit out of date, but don’t despair an updated list will be in next months SomerVille Scoop.
Banner - Sustainability Spring Fair September 2004 Environment / Place Update provided by Dave Moore Late January and February have seen a good deal of activity in the Environment & Place arena. Detailed lot layouts have been further refined to the stage that they should be ready to peg on the ground around the end of February, thereby setting us up for the lot selection process in March. Following a site visit by a geohydrologist from JDA, we will get a review of water supply estimates in late February and possible aquifer testing in March. A revised draft Local Subdivision Infrastructure Plan (LSIP) has been submitted to Mundaring planners in support of our rezoning application. Unfortunately they have not analysed and reported on it in time for the application to be considered at the councillors’ February meeting. We are assessing options to expedite this. On other fronts: A draft car park plan for the Community House development application has been submitted to the Shire and is awaiting comment prior to us making a formal submission. This should hopefully lead to a design and construct contract being concluded during March. The Building Guidelines group have evaluated a number of building environmental rating systems. This, together with building guidelines, will be used to guide and evaluate building proposals at SomerVille . Thanks to cash flow funding by the Moes’s, Charcoal Cottage has had all asbestos removed, has a new roof, is getting a shower and laundry established, and can provide a meeting room for members’ or project meetings. Steve Poole (Aldinga Arts Ecovillage) will also be providing input into key areas of the project. Enterprise Update provided by Helmut Hilz With all the work that is required in the Enterprise arena the Enterprise Core Group has created a subgroup called the Enterprise Action Group. The Enterprise Action Group is focused on providing assistance to:
The group has identified a number of essential and core businesses and has started matching them to people willing to be involved and drive these businesses (see table below).
Additional to the above list there is still a number of businesses that have yet to be taken up so the Enterprise Action Group is actively looking for extraordinary people! People with passion, vision, unique skills and expertise, relevant experience, proven track record, aligned ethics and values, and are passionate about evolving a business of their choice within a worlds leading ecovillage (SomerVille ). So in the next week or two an advertisement will be placed in the West Australian to attract potential people to get involved. The Enterprise Action Group is also offering: Business support services – legal, IT, Accounting, easy access to funding and finance, conclusive market research, ready made markets, flexible and attractive terms for business premises for the following Businesses:
So if you are interested in operating or possibly working in any of these businesses or if you have a business idea which you believe would find a perfect home at SomerVille please contact Paul Antonelli (to obtain Paul’s contact details please email newsletter@sev.net.au). Last but not least the group has also been assisting and supporting Jörg in establishing the Farm School, which had its first lessons on Thursday the 23rd February.
Sociocratic Election of the Elders - First SomerVille Sunday of 2006. Social / Cultural Update provided by Andrew Hemsley We had our main February meeting on the 16th and a follow-up meeting on the 25th. The success of the January SomerVille Sunday was discussed at length. The uplifting election of Mike Fuller and Paul Moes as community elders was celebrated as SomerVille ’s first Sociocratic process. We recognised some opportunities for future SomerVille Sunday’s, such as:
We also looked ahead to how SomerVille could have a presence at the Festival of the Trees in late March and the Perth Sun Fair in early April. An email will be sent soon to gather interested people for a SomerVille stand at the Festival of the Trees. A good chunk of our February time has gone into identifying the scope, activities, required skills and timing of the important items that define our group. A grand plan for the Cultural Social Core Group will be developed from this work soon. Coming Events Calendar of events
Please note that events in
this calendar are tentative. We will try to adhere to advertised
dates but they may change depending upon circumstances. We will
email you in advance of events if we have your email address,
alternatively please check the calendar located at: Sunday 5th March 2006
Sunday 2nd April 2006
Sunday 4th June 2006
Sunday 6th August 2006
Sunday 1st October 2006
Sunday 5th November 2006
Sunday 3rd December 2006
Sunday 31st December 2006
Note: Chidlow Markets occur on the last Saturday of every month For the latest list of all the coming events please visit http://www.greenedge.org/calendar_of_events.htm. Articles
Water Fight – First SomerVille Sunday 2006 The first SomerVille Sunday of 2006 Christophe Bouyac On Sunday the 5th February we had the first SomerVille Sunday of 2006. This was a grand event in which we updated everyone with the progress of the SomerVille project, including the economic / enterprise side of things the status with rezoning (hopefully will be through in March), the lot selection process and also followed up on the controversial cats and dogs issue discussed in June 2005 (will we allow cats and dogs out at SomerVille – the answer ultimately is no). We also had two visitors David and Lyndall Parris, who are from Sydney and starting up their own ecovillage in NSW, it was reported that they were quite impressed with the community we have here at SomerVille and thanked us for our hospitality. Most importantly we elected two Elders Paul Moes and Mike Fuller (an elder is someone who provides mentoring and advise) had a fantastic lunch (as always) and a large water fight which the kids just loved (the big kids most of all). Electing the Elders Christophe Bouyac Firstly I would like to congratulate our elected Community Elders Paul Moes & Mike Fuller. On Sunday the 5th February we elected both Paul and Mike as our Community Elders for a period of 6 months using the Sociocratic Election Process. It is a special gift indeed to be chosen as an elder, of whom both Mike and Paul fully deserve, as it is a position of trust and respect. This position has no agenda, no formal monthly meeting and no defined outcomes. Instead it is a position of guidance and service to those that ask for it. So an Elder is a person chosen by the community to provide a sort of social "mentoring" which in the SomerVille context would be:
I would also like to thank both Mike Fuller and Paul Moes for accepting these roles. If you are interested in contacted either of them please email me at newsletter@sev.net.au and I will forward you their details. The concept of the elder was also a social experiment which allowed us the opportunity to test the Sociocratic Election Process, which was generally agreed by all present to be a roaring success and a beautiful way to conduct an election. If you are interested in finding out more information about the Elder Concept and the Sociocratic Election Process and you are an ecocom member you can download the document (SomerVille Sunday - Jan 2006 - Background Document) from the members only section located at www.ecocom.org/members/SomerVille .htm .
Assorted Photos of Juniper, Aaron and Debbie Juniper May Boultbee, the new arrival Aaron Boultbee On Friday the 10th February 2006, Aaron Boultbee and Debbie Targett, gave birth to a beautiful, baby girl. Her name is Juniper May Boultbee. Our little blessing rolled in to our lives at 3.01am in the morning weighting 7 pounds 8 ounces. She was born at home with no complications; she and her mother are perfectly well (but a little sore). She has brought so much joy to us both; we could not count the ways. Beautiful. We are all very well and although we are having some quite time I am sure we will be in contact soon. My Story This is a new section in the newsletter where each month we select a member and get them to write a short article about themselves and how they got involved in the SomerVille Ecovillage™ . This Month it’s me.
Christophe Bouyac – Earth, Air, Fire, Water Celebration New Years Eve 2005/06 My Story Christophe Bouyac Well I first heard about the SomerVille Ecovillage™ from my Auntie (Sarah Robertson) and her husband (Neil Robertson) who had moved from Darwin just to be at SomerVille (But that’s their story not mine), so anyway I had come up for a combined birthday celebration at the loose box and afterwards we went out and had a bit of walk around the land. Anyway I was intrigued so I decided to go to the sustainability spring fair in September 2004 which was held out on the land. It was great and even though I was suffering from a hangover (friends birthday party the night before) I learnt a lot more about the project, and at that point I decided to join ecocom and become more involved. However the real turning point for me was the first workshop I attended called creating community, it just blew me away, there in no other way of describing it, it just felt so right, like I had finally found what I was searching for without even realising it. I had stumbled across a group of fantastic and inspiring people who were process of making something so amazing that words can’t describe it and I knew that I had to be a part of it. It also made me remember that as a kid I had a fanciful dream that if I ever won lotto or came into lots of money I would set up a little village, with all my friends and escape the rat race, and live a more peaceful satisfying life. I had pretty much put this in the not going to happen basket and forgotten about it. So here I was at the creating community workshop and recalled this half forgotten dream and realised that this dream is possible with the help of others, and that I am not the only one with this dream. So it was at this point that I dived in a helped out wherever I could, I attended the workshops, helped out on the SomerVille stall, became the editor or the Ecocom Newsletter. I even moved up to Mundaring to be closer; and managed to find a job closer to the hills as well (although that job didn’t work out – but that’s another story). Without giving you my entire life story I would like to end this by saying that I now live in Chidlow (the next step, before the ecovillage) and I have a fantastic job working for Greenedge Projects. I would also like to say that as I have gotten more involved in the project I have started to realised just how much work and effort is involved in making the SomerVille Ecovillage™ a reality and so I would especially like to thank Paul Antonelli and Dominic and Vida Carlino, because I strongly believe that without them guiding the way, and doing a majority of this work, the SomerVille Ecovillage™ probably would not be happening. I would also like to thank many others who are helping out and I do not mean to offend anyone if I miss their name because there are many but I would also like to thank Karen and Dave Moore (unsung hero’s who do a lot of volunteer work with Ecocom and always seem to be working on one thing or the other) Neil Robertson (who’s IT experience is invaluable) and Paul Moes’s, (who does such a darn good job at greeting new members and showing them about the land and explaining it all to them) so once again I thankyou all I feel so privileged to be working alongside such great people. So this is my story I look forward to yours.
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