Solas EcoVillage Project (Scotland) Seeks Members & Land

[Will Todd]

Dear Fielders,

I would like to draw your attention to the Solas Project which aims to
start a forest eco-village.

Currently we number about 25 individuals comprised of 15 households.
Households are either individuals, co-habitants (house sharers) or
families. Our aim is to raise £100,000 for the purchase of at least 70acres
of land. This will be raised through donations of £5000 per household, so
ideally we are looking for 20 households in total. We will happily increase
the budget (and land size) to fit more households.

Member donations are beginning to come in and we have amassed a total of
£27,000 into the Land Purchase Fund. Our policy is that donations are
returnable at any time up until a piece of land has been decided upon and
bought. This allows anyone objecting in any way to withdraw before a piece
of land is bought without loosing money.

We have spent one year and a bit holding monthly meetings to discuss how we
intend to operate, build and work with the eco-village. Full details of
what we have discussed can be found
here<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/view/5k-options/solas/project-details>
.

Our intent is to follow a so called "no-planning" approach. Part of our aim
is to confront land access restrictions by challenging the authority of the
planning system to dictate land use. We aim to hold land in trust as a
means to befound and confront planning jurisdiction.

We are setting up two workers co-ops at the minute as a means to provide
sustainable, land based livelihoods for Solas inhabitants. One is mobile,
chip-fat powered, wood milling and timber building service aimed at
community woodlands. We will fund this ourselves or perhaps we will be
lucky with one of the grants that have been applied for. The other is a
yurt builders co-op for which comprehensive training is available. With
such projects, we aim to make living in the woods possible by generating a
small income for individual members through co-operation and skill sharing.

Currently, there is one strong contender for mixed forested land in
Galloway.

We are looking for people who want to learn more. We are looking also for
new members interested in pitching in their input to the project and
working towards these aims. We hope to attract members with new insights
and experience. Anyone looking for a sane, sustainable, local, land-based
livelihood in the woods should make themselves known on the
forum<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/index.php>.
You can register to the forum (to be able to post messages on it) at this
address <http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/ucp.php?mode=register>. New
enquiries should be posted in the Scotland
section<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/viewforum.php?f=71> of
the forum (hit 'NEWTOPIC' once registered:).

What becoming a member entails:

Potential new members will be expected to attend our meetings. This allows
potential members to meet who they will be living with and get to know
them. It also allows potential members to assess whether this is the right
project for them and begin contributing to the consensus decision making
process. These meetings take place the first weekend of each month. The
next meeting is to take place from 11am on the 3rd and 4th of March at:

Flat 2/1
46 Bentinck St
Glasgow
G3 7TT

If you become interested in joining Solas after attending meetings, we ask
that you make a deposit of £100 towards your £5000 donation to the Land
Purchase Fund.

We are also looking for candidates for land purchase. This must be wooded,
ideally south facing and be in Scotland.

Again, please register on the
forum<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/index.php>.
You need to register to the forum to be able to post messages on it. This
can be done at this
address<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/ucp.php?mode=register>.
New enquiries should be posted in the Scotland
section<http://hartwoodcommunity.coop/forum/viewforum.php?f=71> of
the forum (hit 'NEWTOPIC' once registered:).

If you would like someone to get in touch with more information, please
email: hearth at hartwoodcommunity.coop

All the best,

Todski
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