Our
Story
Our mission
Together, we’re creating a diverse, sustainable cohousing community in Norwich, to enrich lives and improve wellbeing through cooperation, respect and kindness to people and the planet.
Our journey so far
Outside City Hall after planning approval
Our group came together in 2015 when we bought the site on Sussex Street, followed by our purchase of the adjoining land on Oak Street, making the L-shaped plot that we have today. One of our first steps was to write our Client Brief setting out our hopes and ambitions for the project.
After a couple of years we teamed up with TOWN, developers of the award-winning Marmalade Lane cohousing community in Cambridge, and subsequently Archio came on board as our project architects. As a team we have worked closely together to produce plans that we feel are both viable and that meet our brief. It's been a journey!
Now that most of our homes have been informally reserved we are starting to feel that we are a real community. Current members range in age from 0 to late 70s, a mix of singles, couples and families, some local and some from around the UK and beyond.
Who we are and how we work together
Eight of our members form a Steering Group who meet once a week, together with TOWN, to review progress. There's also a Legal group, a Marketing group, a Social group and a Construction & Contractors team.
The full group of 'future residents' meets regularly online and occasionally in person at a full day workshop to deal with bigger issues, everything from setting our guiding principles to designing our shared kitchen We also have a WhatsApp community, with groups for chat, meeting up and going out, and an allotment group.
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More formally, we have formed an incorporated Community Interest Company (each household is a member of it) that owns the site and will own the common areas, set the service charge each year and manage maintenance. Finally we have unincorporated Association that in the future will be useful for organising meals, booking guestrooms, car pool etc.