The land

TeMara’s garden area is expanding with new terraces being formed behind the house. This years tree planting is nearly complete. The just increased flock of hens are producing lot’s of eggs and spring is just about here. Jacques and Cheryl’s and Joni’s next project is to get ready for the small goat herd. Work on the track connecting the TeMara food production land directly with the village is making as much progress as the weather allows.

Building projects

The show home design is now all done and we will be posting photos of the model on the website shortly. The consent application is going into council in the next two to three weeks. Jack and Joanna are progressing with their house design and their site and earth works plans are now nearly complete. Jurgen and Kyoko’s house design is conceptually complete and not surprisingly it turned out rather Japanese. Building is scheduled to start within 8-10 weeks now.

Village community

Craig and Tracey, who recently moved to Motueka to join the village have made a decision to purchase Lot 4 and another three parties are close to finalising a purchase as well. So the villagers are arriving in quick succession. It seems that now that the issuing of titles is coming closer a lot of visitors from overseas have also announced themselves to see if they can find a home in Atamai. So if all the parties currently close to a decision sign up half the sections of phase one will already be committed and on the danger of sounding like a salesperson I would encourage all of you who have been thinking about making a decision for a while to keep in mind that the second stage will be another 12-18 months away if the RMA process goes well or possible another 6 months after that. Meanwhile there are strong indications that the global oil supply situation, world food supplies and the economic deterioration are all heading for another step down towards in the last quarter of 2009. Due to the length of time it takes in all practicality for households to shift a number of parties are already planning to become part of the second phase of the development. We have arranged for a term deposit scheme with one of the local building societies for those of you wanting to both help the village project and save up for a section deposit. Please contact us for details.

Business Opportunities

Gearing up for all the implementation work of the village setup we are now fairly confident that there are very good business opportunities and some limited employment opportunities for building, landscaping, joinery production, engineering and even civil engineering/machinery operation available. So if you are thinking of working in any of these areas with a base in the village contact us. One of the advantages of making a move early is that the best opportunities are there for the picking. Setting up your own business is also a good approach to gain New Zealand residency for those of you currently overseas.

Contacting us

Just a note about contacting us. Usually everyone exchanges a flurry of emails with us on initial contact. Please note that our mailing list is now so large that we cannot initiate keeping individual contacts up apart from these updates to everyone. We are obviously happy to respond to any enquiries or suggestions you make though. So it is up to you to keep communication alive!

Equipment

The most recent additions to the equipment and machine resources are a small 4.5t truck, Gil is working on the Lister engine based generators, with two more coming and a lot of smaller tools have been purchased (mulcher, welder, scrub mower, etc). All the while the collection of hand tools keeps growing as well.

Planning and Development

We are currently progressing with all the engineering and earthworks designs for the lot’s and some of them are complete. Most of the sections will have very nice building platforms and lot’s of scope for permaculture landscaping. The work on the ground will commence once the winter rains ease towards the end of the month and in September.

Section Pricing and Finance

Section prices are now firming up as we are close to finalising all the earthworks and improvements planning. The web site has been update with the latest figures based on the commons share now being valued at $72,000. There is likely to be one more round of adjustments. Please note that the trust can offer some vendor finance for a limited number of households if required provided the deposits can cover the actual cost of the sections. Again, contact us to discuss what is possible for you. We are also very keen to come to an arrangement with any builders/joiners to buy into the village on a portion of sweat equity.

Land Purchase

One of the founders has been able to secure the last piece of land to complete Atamai’s land holdings in the side valley of the Motueka river valley. This will provide five more sections with very nice aspects for stage 2 and it also makes an already completed modern 3 bedroom house available for anyone who does not want to build. The house will be available from January 2010. This particular property is valued at $860,000 has stunning views and will be available on a smaller 5000sm section for $790,000 including the commons share making it a bargain for anyone who cannot build. Information on this property will be posted on the web site by the end of next week. This property purchase will also make access to the lot’s for stage 2 much easier and gives Atamai complete control over the watershed in the valley.

Events

If you are living in the Nelson area: Atamai will have a stall at the ECO fest on the weekend and you are welcome to drop in and have a chat!

September potluck: We will have Spring Potluck dinner together at Jack and Joanna’s house at 58 C Mytton Heights on Friday, September 18th around 6pm. Come along!