Creating environmentally sensitive accommodation for people wanting to be involved with The Fold
Downloads
Philosophy
We intend to embrace principles from The Global Ecovillage Network, Low Impact Development and Co-housing.
An ecovillage is an intentional community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all four dimensions of sustainability – social, cultural, ecological and economical – to regenerate their environments.
Ecovillages are living laboratories pioneering beautiful alternatives and innovative solutions. They are rural or urban settlements with vibrant social structures, vastly diverse, yet united in their actions towards low-impact, high-quality lifestyles. www.ecovillage.org
Low-impact living is about local, organic food, self-employment, family firms, small independent shops, co-ops, credit unions, home cooking, open source, craft skills, self-built homes, renewable energy, smallholdings, allotments, sharing, enjoying nature, enjoying life.
It’s also about authenticity – real friends, real food and useful work. It’s an antidote to the power of corporations and banks, supermarkets, pesticides, McFood, monotonous identikit shopping centres, housing estates and industrial estates, credit card debt and stress. The global economy based on growth is out of control. Ultimately we will either choose to live in harmony with nature, or nature will do it for us. But if we wait for nature to do it for us, it won’t be pretty for humankind. www.lowimpact.org
Co-housing communities are intentional communities, created and run by their residents. Each household has a self-contained, private home as well as shared community space. Residents come together to manage their community, share activities and regularly eat together.
It is a way of resolving the isolation many people experience today, recreating the neighbourly support of the past. This can happen anywhere, in your street or starting a new community using empty homes or building new.
Co-housing communities can be inter-generational, welcoming anyone of any age and any family structure, or specifically to cater for people who are older or are communities of common interest, for example for women or LGBT groups. www.cohousing.org.uk
Where we are so far…
We have gained full planning permission for this exciting project and have laid the foundations for one of the roundhouses which secures our planning permission
To see the plans that were submitted to MHDC please click on links below:
Proposed Site Plan
Proposed House Type 1 – Residential
Proposed House Type 2 – Residential
Proposed House Type 3 – Visitor accommodation
Proposed House Types 4, 5 & 6 – Visitor accommodation
Yet to be designed and agreed – Community building and facilities
Governance Structure
We have yet to finalise the governance structure for the project but it is likely to be set up as either a freehold company or a mutual housing ownership society.
If you are interested in purchasing one of the individual residential properties then please complete the Community Housing Questionnaire.
If you would like to support the project in some way by volunteering or getting involved in the visitor accommodation build process then please contact housing@thefold.org.uk.
How we see it working
The project currently includes four residential self-build properties that individuals, families or groups can purchase. These properties will be developed on a bespoke basis with the purchasers to create personalised, environmentally sensitive homes that will form a key part of The Fold eco-village. We are exploring the possibility of subdividing some of these plots into smaller dwellings. If you are interested in these plots please contact us and become part of a unique opportunity to join a long-standing and truly sustainable community.
Funds generated from the sale of our four residential plots will pay for site works, materials for the community building and seven visitor accommodation homes which are for volunteers and people attending courses and are intended to be built by Fold employees and volunteers and used as valuable training material for courses in sustainable building.
For more information please see our Community Housing Guidelines Document – link below.