Cascade Cohousing - tucked below Mount Wellington at South Hobart, Tasmania, is situated on about two acres of land. We are just ten minutes bus ride from the city of Hobart. The bus stops outside our main entrance. Some residents car-share, cycle, or walk to town or university. Half our land is reserved for chickens, orchard and bush-regrowth, with habitat for bandicoots and possums. Our Common House size is about 250m and our average house size is 110m.

History
The group formed in 1989 - the first Cohousing community in Australia, with the second, a government funded group, just around the corner. The number of people on site full time is 19, plus 6 children.

Abundance
From a site of barren clay, one exotic pine, and all top-soil removed, Cascade Cohousing has flourished to a place of abundance. Just now - late January - we are harvesting and sharing fruit: apricots and apples as the strawberries and cherries finish. Greengages, plums, pears and almonds are ripening on the trees. Common meals shared three times a week are cooked with many vegetables and herbs grown on site. Our houses are fringed with flowers and shrubs and trees that allow sun to reach our passive solar-homes when wanted.

It has taken us ten years from the time we purchased our land to get to this stage and still we have minor construction work to do, as well as maintenance of what already exists. Half of our land-in-common - reserved for the bush regrowth orchard, chickens and food planting - needs constant work, especially our efforts to clear gorse without the use of chemicals. In these summer months we are more aware of the benefits we are reaping as we casually join others at our outdoor tables, enjoy our gardens, and eat outside before sunset behind the mountain brings a swift change of temperature.

Completion dates for our houses varied, some were built by private builders and as joint builder/owner projects, and, of course, work is ongoing. There is no doubt about it - Cohousing is hard work. Meetings are held once a month. They were more frequent when were planning a change of title from Tenants in Common to the strata-titling of our private homes. When this change was going on we found it necessary to revisit all our planning and boundary issues. All that is completed now. Owners may now borrow money or sell their properties if they wish.

Stability
We have been a remarkably stable community in a neighbourhood of Community Housing where there have been many changes. There have been no changes of ownership since the last block was sold. Commitments of time, energy and money contribute to this. Movements out of Cascade Cohousing have mostly been made because of changed relationships and work requirements. At the moment two houses are rented whilst owners work away from home and one is rented because the single owner has moved into a family situation elsewhere.

Lessons learned
So, we are beginning to ask ourselves as our first decade together approaches, what do we FEEL about our Cohousing living; what have we learnt? Because we are a diverse community the answers to these questions vary. I have yet to tape responses from everyone, children included. My observations - as one of the older community members - is that children flourish and grow independent in such an environment. I see with great pleasure the way they often choose to settle themselves at their own dinner table; the way they consider everyone when cooking a 'kid's meal; the way they address other members of the community. The very youngest child, with her first words included others simultaneously with 'mum' and 'dad'.

Our abilities to deal with problems have matured as we have got to know each other and become able to express - most of the time - likes and dislikes without offence to the individuals concerned. Recognising ourselves as a group of diverse individuals we have really worked on conflict management to achieve this, with a special fund for this purpose. This has become the most important and learning process for me. Never in my life have I felt that I had such good neighbours. People who show consideration for eccentricities, and my, and others, ecological concerns. Green activists, foresters shift-workers, biodynamic gardeners, vegans and meat-eaters coexist, and this, as you can imagine, is not always easy. I tend towards optimism - the glass half full rather than half empty - and I tend not to write articles during lows - which can occur wherever one lives. And it IS reassuring to know that you can be picked up at the airport, fed during times of pressure or sickness, call on a neighbour to lift heavy things, share a problem as well as a joke; and, always, always there is something useful to be done. We are also learning to ask for help when it is needed and not always to expect busy people to anticipate needs.

Work contributions come in waves as residents cope with busy lives and interruptions in private lives: childcare, work and study.

The particularly difficult areas of 'food' and 'pets' have been worked over and over, resulting in vegetarianism in the Common House, with the occasional eating of fish, and a restriction of the number of animals on site. The Common House is becoming a more social place with visitors joining us, staying for dinner, being included in the dining roster, or for holidays in the guest room provided.

A Pattern Language (Alexander et al) has been a reference book during our building and learning processes. A regret I have is that I had less time to read it when planning and building than I do now. As a recent newsletter book-review confirms, although written in the 70's it remains an important text for community building.

Visiting
Intentional Communities have become places that are studied by governments, community groups, media, and educational institutions. Cohousing has become an example for reinstituting what, for many, has been lost: a sense of community and a sense of place. Because of this we receive enquiries from people wanting to inspect and, or, stay in our community. While we welcome this there are, understandably, people who require privacy. We may, because of this, work out occasions for 'open homes' rather than being generally available as we are now.

I look forward to international and national exchanges where home owners can swap with other home owners: Denmark to Tasmania and visa-versa for example - for a change of seasons as well as ideas.

Mary Jenkins,
Cascade Cohousing,
12 Saunders Crescent.
Hobart 7004 Tasmania,
Australia
Tel 03 6223 8327