Looking for your people?

If you have been considering a small rural community, we may be looking for each other. To introduce ourselves, we are the trustees of Ahika, a vital, creative young community in startup mode. We are a leaderless group of entrepreneurial, service-oriented people with a strong sense of collaboration and a philosophy of “giving before you get.” We own a beautiful property on the shores of the Northern Kaipara harbour, and we have space for two more foundation members (individuals / couples / families) on 31 Permaculture acres.

The land has been fully organic for 18 years, with good quality soil and no spray drift (surrounded on three sides by water), a perfect place to grow nutrient-dense produce and herbs. We plan to build our own dwellings and use the modern, 190m3 home as the community house for entertaining, workshops and gatherings.

Ahikā is a Maori word meaning "lit fires". It generally refers to the core value of kaitiake (guardianship) and care for the land to sustain present and future generations. We also think of the fire symbol as a beacon that attracts, because we will become a teaching and healing centre that benefits the entire region and maintains strong links to other sustainable settlements.

All of us want Ahika to make a statement about community living, to become a showcase of sustainability. We are on a long-term journey to develop the site into a centre of excellence, showcasing innovative ideas in biological agriculture, building design and construction for energy efficiency, and effective ways to engage and compensate people for their efforts.

Community members currently are: Moira Clayton, Margaret Horton, Bruce Lipton, Piet Radford, Graeme Sait, Bill Watson. We are natural entrepreneurs and envisage using our skills to the advantage of the collective. One of the core concepts involves joint projects and initiatives that will benefit the community and ultimately the entire region. A significant part of our plan is to enrich the soil and grow nutrient-dense produce and herbs. We are seeking other sincere, constructive, open-minded, competent and hard-working people who share our vision and values.

Initial buy-in is $108,000, which entitles you to a building site, an equal share in the commons, and opportunity to thrive as part of a team of cultural creatives. There will be an ongoing need to finance both maintenance and improvements on this property and those involved must have the financial ability to participate. Timing is everything; if you are interested in becoming an Ahika stakeholder and part of a small village-type community, act now by sending an email to bill@accessasiabiz.com outlining your present situation and what you can contribute. More information is available at our website: http://sustainablesettlementnz.weebly.com

We are acutely aware that two weeks ago the planet reached a milestone where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 400ppm for the first time in 3 million years. We are not into doomsday predictions, we believe there is still time to turn this around with the right approach to soil management. It is a fact that if we can increase organic matter levels by just 1.8% on all of the planet's soils, we have effectively reversed climate change. Listen to Graeme's TEDx talk and hear his call to action; whether you are interested in Ahika or not, please share his message with as many people as possible within your network. This is important because if the video receives enough views, it will be moved to the main TED website, and potentially millions more views. Here's the link: http://youtu.be/8Q1VnwcpW7E