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The Corroboree
vual

Ecovillage / Painfull shire restrictions.....

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Hey guys,

Finally we have made a great start in a long term dream and purchased 110heacters in NSW (near Glenn Inns, amazing land, very beautiful ) to build a ecovillage/community (so to call it) apon.

Land is perfect many natural resources , springs, creeks, deer, goats, wild foods already there for a start.

Problem we are facing is with local shire laws and the steps needed to take to officialy start the ecovillage down the right tracks.

Our basic accommodation module has been developed by a specialist architect, and we have no problems with getting ONE of these units built on the land. a 2 bedroom cottage made from hay bails and cob (claymud/sand/straw), the plans have been drafted to NSW regulations and Australia building standards and is guaranteed to get passed by the architect.

The land has a current building title for the next 5 years. (ok to build)

Problem we face is there is a multi occupancy clause that makes it so other occupancy's must be attached to each other and in this shire sub division's must be 500acears and our block is 300, i assume if we declair it a village as such we dont have to worry about this restrictions? all this is great in theory with common law so the speak but in practice what form do i start with? Or really in common law we just start? but i would rather the shire on my side and not against me....

So what steps must i take to somehow declair the land as a village under law or freeman / common law, legitly I first register a Co OP and then the transfer the land into the Co Op's name????

What are my REAL options to get this achevied?

selling the land and buying elsewhere is not a option.

I have spoke to the town planer and they are "ok" with this but they cant change the restrictions ( they are attending expo's with plans to try change it), a loop hole they subconsciously suggested to me was to declair all "homes" as rural sheds and apply for a exemption every 12 months.

Any more ideas?

Any lawyers would like to offer there services at a Discounted price to help draft a few contracts and help set up a Co OP or Pty Ltd to manage / own the property would be much appreciated, please forward quote to me. It will be a Trading Co Op Group ( i think will be best), not non for profit co op, we have 2 members required for Co-op Group or could get 5 if required for the co-op.

Thanks again,

Any help / ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Or any questions on any thing to do with our planing don't hesitate to ask.

Confused once again....

V

Edited by vual

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I am unsure what you mean by:

"Problem we face is there is a multi occupancy clause that makes it so other occupancy's must be attached to each other and in this shire sub division's must be 500acears and our block is 300, i assume if we declair it a village as such we dont have to worry about this restrictions? all this is great in theory with common law so the speak but in practice what form do i start with? Or really in common law we just start? but i would rather the shire on my side and not against me...."

In Glen Innes-Severn Shire there is already at least one large multiple occupancy (Wytaliba). If you have a suitable parcel of land

that complies with the relevant planning instruments for MOs (State Environmental Planning Policy 15 and others??) you should gain consent - if the Council refuses without reasonable cause then you have the right to appeal to the Land and Environment Court.

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Getting MO's approved is VERY difficult and often takes years if not decades! Councils don't like it because they don't get the high rates they would otherwise get per dwelling. Locals don't like it because it puts pressure on resources [roads etc] and lowers real estate values.

Strata titles is one option some councils have approved, but this is rare and usually only works once the MO has been running illegally for years or decades [ie the owners have friends in council ;) ].

What you are planing usually requires rezoning and this is neither cheap nor easy. So what's the deal at 500ac? Can you subdivide just once then or more?

Most shires allow 2 residences per rural title, but you have to be careful how you word things. eg our property has two houses on it, but one of them is a 'manager's cottage'. The fact the other house actually has its own deed as part of our title doesn't bother council as most rural properties around here have dual dwelligns anyway. So if you managed to subdivide your title into 2 titles for some reason then you could have 4 dwellings, however they would be on 2 titles with 4 deeds. The problem with this is that banks will not lend on MO titles, so there goes 80% of your potential buyers.

basically ecovillages have to be set up like subdivisions. This means big bucks. It is somtimes easier to go down the ecotourism route. For example, while our property can't be subdivided, council was quite positive about the idea of putting up to 5 ecotourism cabins on it [as well as the 2 houses alreade on it]. many shires crave tourism dollars and will bend the rules to make things happen. You just have to be consistent with such approaches as you will be relying on the goodwill of the council and community and there will no doubt be many restrictions such as length of tenancy etc. This will not work if you are trying to sell the cabins though, so you would be making an eco rental village.

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you can tell the council to eat shit.

sincerely.. go to the high court of Australia and have your land declared as a soviern state, in other words it wont be part of Australia.

someone in NSW has already done this.

what does it mean ? it simply means you land will not be under the commonwealth constitution ,meaning no laws apply to your land.

no taxes , no fees , no bills , no laws , no restrictions.. nothing......

you can then do what ever the fuck you want.

all perfectly legal too

however.. dont expect it to be a week in court battle.. it will take months.

Edited by 7baz

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high court takes years and costs more than the property is worth.

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A friend of mine appealed her sentence at the high court... it cost her $10,000 just for that.

Also as far as i'm aware there aren't any recoginised soverign states in Australia, even the hutt river province is on iffy ground and the only thing they have to stand on is an old letter addressed to the principality from the then governor general addressing the leader with his own given title.

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Ya i am aware of that but really its to hard (no offence), or i could simply just stuff them and worry about rezoning once the time comes....

Minimal subdivison is 500ac, so i cant subdivide it, i will try contact Wytaliba and talk to them, maybe 500 isnt enough :(

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you can tell the council to eat shit.

sincerely.. go to the high court of Australia and have your land declared as a soviern state, in other words it wont be part of Australia.

someone in NSW has already done this.

what does it mean ? it simply means you land will not be under the commonwealth constitution ,meaning no laws apply to your land.

no taxes , no fees , no bills , no laws , no restrictions.. nothing......

you can then do what ever the fuck you want.

all perfectly legal too

however.. dont expect it to be a week in court battle.. it will take months.

 

Im not aware of any succession's since Hutt River.

Does the high court even weild this power?

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could you build a complex as one building? i mean one large dwelling for the whole community?

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Everyone lives under the same patio? :P

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u simply build "sheds" I assume it's normal to have many sheds on such a large rural property. :P

Oops, I should have read ur full post, yeah in WA sheds are the go. Also many ryral properties in WA have no restrictions really as far as buildings go.

Edited by naja naja

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Yep farm sheds are exempt from requiring development consent in NSW too - provided they are not too close to boundaries and below a certain size...

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could you build a complex as one building? i mean one large dwelling for the whole community?

 

Everyone lives under the same patio? :P

 

Yes, but not really a option :(

Yep farm sheds are exempt from requiring development consent in NSW too - provided they are not too close to boundaries and below a certain size...

 

Yes but only for 12months then you must apply for extension, its true it is considered a rural building but then to live in it (ie: not have welfare steal your children) it must be "livible" so for that it must be a perminint dwelling for living more then 12months on the site, and in that case a shed isnt a permament dwelling and as soon as you do make it one (if you could) it would then not be allowed bcause you can only have "one perm dwelling" on a property under 500scres :(

its really not good, but there is hope for us, the property is 6km from town... and soon they may be extending residential boundrys of the town by 7kms...

really you goto admit thats some wonderfull manifestation and universe work to get the above, it means we can subdivide for it will be rezoned..... and those numbers are amusing... so many things to fall into a fine place for that outcome i never expected it.

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