Author Archives: Mike Hulme

Something special is growing in the Ecovillage

By Mike Hulme and Michelle Sheridan, Co-founders It brings great joy to our hearts to see the level of community participation that is growing in the Ecovillage. While I was walking through the cluster gardens last week, completing the final inspection of the community sheds in Stages 1-3, I could ...

Ecovillage welcomes the Webb family

When Michelle and I started the journey of exploring the potential for building an ecovillage in Witchcliffe we consulted extensively with the local community. We made it very clear from the outset that we had no intention of proceeding with the extensive planning process to rezone the land unless there was ...

Building Update – Dec 2022

We’re so thrilled with the quality and diversity of homes being built in the Ecovillage to date. Homes are predominantly being built from timber, straw bale, reverse brick veneer and hempcrete (apparently the most hempcrete homes in one suburb in the Southern Hemisphere, and soon to be the world). They’re ...

Byron Bay Affordable Housing Summit

Shelle and I recently had the great honour of being invited to Byron Bay by their Shire Council as the keynote speakers at its Affordable Housing Summit. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to visit the region and see our oldest daughter Amala, who’s been living and working there ...

Ecovillage to become EV hub

I’m very excited to announce that we’ve just ordered 11 x 75kW (double lead) Tritium EV chargers from Perth EV energy specialists Gemtek, all with bank billing facilities. ...

Housing affordability and inflation

Whether you’re currently in the process of building a home, getting quotes for your proposed new home, or just reading and listening to the daily news cycle, you’re no doubt aware of the significant inflation associated with building a new home and the ever-increasing costs of living. ...

Commentary: The view from my e-bike

Over the past couple of months, many of you will have seen me riding my bike around the Ecovillage, chatting to residents and contractors. ...

Our first residents get comfortable

It’s given Michelle and I so much enjoyment to see the Ecovillage coming to life over the past year. It’s a great feeling walking and riding around the streets and footpaths seeing the stormwater swales and basins working, dams overflowing, and so many homes under construction. It is also lovely ...

Ecovillage energy systems update

As you’re all aware, an abundance of cheap fossil fuel energy is the main reason for the explosion in population, consumption, destruction of our environment and global warming. As we’ve wanted to completely separate ourselves from energy produced from fossil fuels, our challenge has been to provide 100% self sufficiency ...