Culture

Lyonesse is a community in the process of being formed for people who want to live in tiny houses on wheels or relocatable tiny houses.

We plan to obtain some land within NSW in the region north of Taree between the mountains and the sea. We want to find somewhere that is within 40 minutes drive from a hospital.

Some different aspects of community culture at Lyonesse:

We recognise sovereign Aboriginal peoples and we will interact with them in ways determined by them.
We will purchase land once we have prior approval from the local government authority for our development application.
We will buy an old farm on fully or partially cleared land and create the community in such a way that it improves and enriches the environment utilising permaculture and organic gardening techniques.
We will ensure the land is held under the most secure form of unalienable title in perpetuity possible under NSW law. We will all own the land together in a way that it cannot be sold.
We will establish the community under caravan park regulations so we can legally live in tiny houses on wheels.
We will ensure equity, accountability & transparency are practised in all community dealings.
We will begin community life exploring the egalitarian principles expressed within the rules and ethics of Lyonesse community.
We will endeavour to always be mindful that we are interacting with others in ways that are mutually consensual, mutually beneficial and that we are always accountable for our actions.
We will make decisions via the consensus decision-making process described in our community rules.
We will not discriminate against anyone based on their self defined LGBTIQ status or their relationship choices.
We will create opportunities for people to explore their creativity, spirituality and spontaneity in ways that increase dignity and personal sovereignty.
That we seek community members who are interested in exploring the wisdom of Buddhism and ancient pre-Christian cultures from around the world. We will undertake to integrate these ways of being into our community codes and our own lives.
We will be seeking people that have already developed a spiritual connection with the earth.
All community activities will need to be demonstrably environmental sustainable.
We will seek to become as self sufficient as possible as quickly as possible with regard to growing our own food and we will trade with local farmers where possible for other food needs. We will sustainably grow our own organic fruit, vegetables grain etc using permaculture principles.
We will cook food together as a community in a fully equipped commercial kitchen with equipment designed to cook large volumes of food for around 180 people.
We will make sure we approach all community activities and communications with people outside the community in ways that serve to provide a mutual social benefit.
Those of us on Centrelink income support will pool the majority of our personal incomes to build and run the community till social enterprises are up and running.
We will discuss income sharing arrangements with people receiving income from other sources to come up with a mutually agreeable solution.
Personal savings, inheritances and other financial assets remain the property of the member.
We will break away from welfare dependence by establishing and running our own social and economic enterprises as soon as possible.
We will use the income from our social enterprises to communally sustain all community members.
We will come up with a few fabulous design options and construction methods of building tiny houses that are relocatable or on wheels. They will:
1. use environmentally safe recycled materials to the largest extent possible
2. will be designed and built utilising passive solar principles so as to minimise the amount of energy needed to comfortably live in them
3. minimise costs so they are affordable
4. be able to be built by community members within a tiny house building facility on site.
5. be durable and long lasting
Our approaches to accomplishing community tasks:
1. That we are mindful that our welcome to live at the community is contingent on the good will we express via our contribution to the development and maintenance of all aspects of community life.
2. We can choose what we feel like doing at any given time of the day to nourish ourselves on all levels using our hands, minds, creativity, intellect and souls to contribute to community.
If we decide to establish social enterprises to deliver services that include the elderly and people with disabilities into the life of our community we will approach it in ways that are mindful of social justice perspectives.
We will use a consensus decision making approach to decide on the types of social enterprises we embark on creating.
We will share community resources

Please note: Our commitment to egalitarian values, environmental sustainability and our alignment with earth based spiritual cultures are things that are not up for negotiation. These are our cultural intentions that will make Lyonesse unique and different from other places. The strategies on this and other pages will evolve to better meet our cultural purposes. If you think something does not sound like it is in keeping with our cultural aspirations then please let us know. We want to have rules, structures and processes that have continuity and are fair to everyone.