Ecovillage launch format to change

Open Day to make way for a series of smaller events

As the Witchcliffe Ecovillage gathers momentum, more and more people are registering their interest and enquiries are increasing. We are thrilled to have such an active group of prospective buyers but it has prompted a rethink of how best to successfully launch the project.

We have in recent weeks been reconsidering the format of our proposed Open Day entirely, for several reasons:

1. We recently held a presentation and site tour of the Ecovillage for a small group of 20 people who had made irreversible plans (flights and accommodation) to come to the postponed Open Day in November. We used this private tour as a test case for our future Open Day and it was an enlightening experience. We quickly realised that with the increasing level of interest in the Ecovillage, we may well attract hundreds of people to our Open Day and would be unable to practically and comfortably accommodate them all on walking tours of the site in a single day.
2. We are feeling buoyed by the level of genuine buyer interest and have therefore made the financial commitment to major infrastructure works (subject to acceptable tender) ahead of a pre-sales period, which was the original impetus for holding an Open Day.
3. In addition, we have decided to plunge ahead with civil works on stages 2 and 3, which encompasses all the residential areas north of the middle dam. If Stage 1 sells quickly, it will enable us to seamlessly roll into sales in subsequent stages to ensure eager buyers are not left waiting. This has increased our current scope of works, which has impacted on our schedule.
4. Removing the financial impetus for early pre-sales means we can spend quality time with people in smaller groups instead of trying to cram everyone and everything into one Open Day.
5. Civil works are due to start on site in February, which not only is our hottest and driest month, it will mean Stages 1-3 will become a construction zone under the management of our civil contractor. As such, only authorised personnel with appropriate safety clearances will be able to move freely on site.
6. Later in the year, when the weather is more conducive and the site has greened up, will offer a far better environment for conducting site tours. There will also be a lot more to see once civil works (roads, paths, drainage, community gardens) on stages 1-3 have been completed and landscaping and tree planting has commenced.

But what about a launch celebration?

Indeed! We are definitely keen to have a celebration to mark the launch of this incredibly exciting project and are imagining how wonderful it will be to host a party in the newly constructed Village Square later in the year. More on that to come.

Next steps

We are planning to offer optional small group (maximum 40 people) presentations of the Ecovillage project at our office commencing in mid-February. The presentations will give attendees a full overview of the project and the opportunity to ask questions of Ecovillage staff. We will advertise presentation dates on our website and you will need to book a place to register your attendance. These talks will coincide with sales of Stage 1 lots, which will be conducted entirely online through our website at www.ecovillage.net.au. Of course, you can buy a lot online as soon as they go on sale if you’ve already heard all you need to know about the Ecovillage.

We will keep you informed as we formulate our plan and timing for the rollout of Stage 1 lot sales and presentations.

The Ecovillage team will be taking a well-deserved break over the holiday period and closing the office from 21 December to 5 January 2020.

For now, we ask you to bear with us while we methodically work through the steps to arrive at the beginning of the project (10 years later).