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Whole
Village King
Newsletter No. 1 — September 1999 |
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Introduction
Welcome to our first (approximately) monthly newsletter, which is distributed to inform our friends, near and far, on how our project is progressing. For background information (including “frequently asked questions”), please visit our website at http://www.wholevillage.org/faq.htm Falconfield! Over the past few months, we have been discussing the prospect of establishing our cohousing community and biodynamic farm at Falconfield—a remarkable, 300-acre property just north of Highway 9, 3 km west of Newmarket, that includes fields, woods, interesting topography, and excellent community and farm sites. In August, we submitted a letter of intent to the owners, the Mulock family and the Cawthra Mulock Foundation. The Mulocks are enthusiastic about our vision and very supportive of our project. With their encouragement, we have initiated detailed site investigations. In addition, preparatory soil enhancement work has begun in anticipation of agricultural operations commencing in earnest next summer. Several meetings of the Round have been held in glorious weather at Falconfield, along with a pot luck lunch. Membership Membership now stands at 24
families. We expect that we will ultimately have 30 families, so there
are a few places available. We have prepared and circulated a detailed
questionnaire to capture each family’s needs and expectations about
facilities and will compile the responses over the coming month. Detailed
by-laws, decision-making procedures, and a shareholders agreement have
been prepared and are being circulated. Meetings of the Round are now scheduled for the 7th and the 3rd Sunday of each month. However, given that our meetings are focused on detailed planning issues, we request that potential new members attend an orientation meeting before attending meetings of the Round so that they can understand more fully where we are in our process. Project planning and Outreach We have begun detailed project planning using a formal project management process. The first step, identification of tasks for the coming year or so, is well underway, and the results are being compiled using MS Project. We have been loaned a computer to host all WVK records and documents. It is clear that one of the key tasks over the coming few months will be preparation of appropriate official plan amendment and rezoning documents. We have submitted a letter of intent to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities applying for a grant to assist with this process. We have also begun discussions with the Nature Conservancy of Canada on land stewardship issues. An initial biodynamic farm plan has been prepared. It envisages that each member of WVK will participate in a Community Shared Agriculture garden at Falconfield, commencing in 2000. We have started to contact all of the residents in the immediate neighbourhood of Falconfield, to inform them of our project and respond to any questions. If useful, we expect to hold one or more informational meetings over the next few months. For more information Please contact us at: Whole
Village King Ltd. Phone: (905) 833-0064 Fax: (905) 833-2813 E-mail: joinus@wholevillage.org Website: http://www.wholevillage.org |
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