Raglan Housing Group Meeting - Minutes from 28/8/08

Present: Jon, Rozz, Ian, Seb, Paul, Vera,Brigid, John, Bettie, Lois, Anne, Bill, Carolina, Javier, Grant, Enid.

Apologies: Steve, Phil.

This meeting was designed to ascertain WHO in Raglan needs affordable housing and what that meant to them.

The single largest group that represented were the Elderly. The local rest home has been bought by a property developer and their future is uncertain. Currently over 100 elderly people per year are forced to leave Raglan due to an increase in property prices, Council rates and rents. The elderly are not in a capacity to put in "Sweat Equity" and it was raised that they would prefer to live closer to town for ease of getting to Dr's appointments etc.

Further to this discussion the point was raised that we should not separate the ages of this community and we should consider an option where ALL generations can have access to the same affordable housing.

Different models of co-opted/shared land living arrangements were explored but nothing appeared as the single most preferred one. still exploring options. We would like to invite a guest speaker from such a community to our next meeting to speak from experience and to help with future visioning. Brigid to extend invitations.

Enid to ask Council man Clint if we can have access to the minutes of the "meetings" he has attended lately on Unit Titles.

Affordable is one aspect of housing that was given high priority but is not the groups sole focus. A very valid point was raised about the housing being affordable not only to the wallet but also to the environment. There were ethical questions raised around our homes being treated as comodities.

Shared resources such as Gardens, Waste management and recovery systems, water storage, guest housing (scheduled by a booking system) and cluster living for efficiency and collectivity are highly regarded and some people would like full communal living but not all.

There is no Social housing system currently in place in Raglan. We feel it is important to preserve a social landscape with mixed generations and cultures.

Designing and building affordable, low energy non-toxic homes are not a problem the highest hurdle is the esculating house prices, the next real estate price hike could cripple this Social landscape.

The "not so elderly" are going to undergo a feasibility study on a piece of land that has real potential as an exercise. We hope this will be of a calibre to take to Council for their approval. Grant offered his engineering skills to this group.

Eco up-cycling of existing units a possibility. We could use this as an opportunity for workshops. What funding is available?

Are Benefactors something we should consider for raising monies?

Would anyone like to go on a bus adventure to visit an Eco Village?