What a year! A 2024 wrap-up of life in the Ecovillage

Orchids in the Ecovillage Commons Conservation Area, images courtesy of Sandra Handy

It’s been a busy year for all of us here at the Ecovillage office as we embarked upon the final stages of bringing this ground-breaking village to life, with a naturally smaller, but very focused team.

There has been lots of action on site and in the Ecovillage community, with homes under construction across all 5 stages of the village, landscaping in stage 4, the first building underway in the Ecovillage commercial precinct, plenty of sales activity through the year, and so much going on day to day out in our bustling community!

Here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening in the Witchcliffe Ecovillage in 2024:

• We won the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s National “Project of the Year” and “Most Sustainable Project of the Year” 2024!!
• We hosted Sustainable House Day in April, with 12 beautiful, sustainable Ecovillage homes open to the public, informative talks and displays, and afterwards, a big party to celebrate.
• The 39.8 ha Ecovillage Commons land parcel amalgamated into one lot and issued with title by Landgate
• Stage 4 and 5 street tree planting and Stage 4 clusters’ soft landscaping completed
• Handover of management and harvest of Ecovillage Commons avocado orchard rows to stage 1 and 2 strata clusters (stage 3 and 4 coming soon!)
• Our first commercial building underway on Wolghine Avenue—Kitchens and Bathrooms by Karen
• Our tavern design (by Michael Sorensen, with assistance from Mike Hulme and our very generous and talented Michelin Star residents, Hans & Dagmar) was very well received by the South West Joint Design Review Panel (they also gave us some excellent critical advice which we’ve adopted in full)—so we’re about to lodge the DA and start looking for the right owner and operator of this much anticipated social hub!
• Our fourth annual weekend “Creating Community” workshop with Louise Duxbury was held in June for stage 4 owners
• Formal handover of the strata management to the new Cluster 4A, 4B and 4D Strata Councils at their inaugural AGMs in July, and to the 3D (agriculture lot) owners in November.
• Our fourth annual “Patch from Scratch” garden workshops held in Autumn.
• Activation of the Stage 1, 2 & 3 Tesla Powerpack shared batteries after a grueling Western Power approval process!
• Activation of the Stage 1 EV chargers for use by the public—providing affordable, renewable energy charging for visitors, and income to the strata companies.
• Stage 1 clusters participating in SEVI research project
• Multiple presentations to planners, architects, researchers, community groups and developers
• “Getting to know your bylaws” workshop for residents
• RAC Ignite Millennial Kids came for an Ecovillage presentation as part of their annual leadership programme, with a bonus visit to Cluster 1A and Lindy and Bob’s sustainable home.

And out in our community:

• Kyloring Co-op’s over 55’s housing cooperative consolidating members through the year, securing funding and progressing towards construction
• Active FB community group, internal cluster messaging groups and Loomio
• Open Edible Gardens Festival event hosted by Cluster 1B
• Permaculture group meeting monthly
• Craft group meeting fortnightly
• The Ecovillage Fun Factory group has held many successful events: New Year’s Eve party, Easter egg hunt, Xmas in July, Oktoberfest, and more
• Ecovillage Swaperoo event held in Cluster 1C
• WEV Buy, Sell & Swap facebook group established
• Ecovillage Waste Busters first meeting
• Feed It Forward has met twice weekly all year at the Community Centre
• Games nights in cluster meeting sheds
• Regular Cluster get-togethers and busy bees
• Decision-making models research and adoption in clusters 
• Snake Safety & Awareness workshop delivered by Discover Deadly
• Regular dog walking group
• Harlequin Desserts coffee van (run by Nadia from Cluster 2A) open every Thursday morning on Wolghine Avenue, treating us with signature gluten-free cakes and encouraging a bit of healthy inter-cluster rivalry—which cluster will win the inaugural 2024 Keep Cup challenge??