Mark Skelding: Thames-Coromandel, Localised NZ communities which connect and prosper towards a shared outcome

GreenplanetFM Podcast

This dialogue with Mark is a continuation of interviewing NZers around the country based on ‘pulling the strings of localised community together’ and linking them across the nation.

Mark is a passionate change agent and realises the importance of having robust and resilient communities founded around: Farmers markets, permaculture, organics, green dollars and Time banks as well as building shelter and sustainable buildings, holistic health, homeschooling, mensheds and women’s cooperatives, plus other regenerative initiatives.

That all of these connect the community into a vibrant, self reliant organism.

For many years in some cases decades there has been a growing awareness by NZers - especially away from the largest cities that in small towns and villages across the country, people still have a sense of community.

That people seeking both better connection, and environmental quietness away from the pace and size of urban conglomeration have gravitated to the rural setting, that is always accompanied by being close to the sea or ocean in some way.

So apologising in advance, I trust that you forgive me and advise me accordingly if I have committed your town, village of region below.

From Kaitaia up North, to Kerikeri, Hokianga, Whangerei and …..

To Thames Coromandel, Raglan over to Gisborne, the Hawkes Bay Hastings region. To Wanganui, Masterton

To the Soul Island of Nelson, Motueka, Takaka and Golden Bay, to Kaikura and Lyttelton, the West Coast and further South - people have steadily built a cooperative commercial understanding around markets and now farmers markets are a key hub to community getting to gather to cooperate in other ways as the threads of community tie in so many other aspects from holistic health, to shared working bees, permaculture, organics, recycling etc see list at the bottom of this article.

Marks interview on what is happening in the Thames Coromandel starts with how people are addressing housing and shelter.

Having many differing forms of life style, and various forms of building homes - Cobb houses , rammed earth, straw bale, lots of permaculture permutations - people living ‘off grid’ and largely self sufficiently - other people living semi on grid whilst developing organic businesses - green businesses, lots of sole traders - that is sort of going on at one level.

At another level also grappling with how to connect up with other parts of the community that are more traditional - who have come there to retire and live in peace by the sea but are now becoming alarmed by sea level rise and climate change - eroding roads as over the last 18 months massive storms have come up the Firth of Thames and the Coast road up to Coromandel has been taken out. Plus lots of flooding on the other coast and at Whitianga as well.

There are some intentional communities, as well as spiritual communities that are rarely well integrated into the larger community running meditation courses as well as extending into town as a shop presence.

People looking at ways of cooperating to group together on the land and adding tiny houses etc

But in a sharing of care, Mark mentions there is also now on the other side of the situation about 30 homeless people living in Thames - sleeping in cars - or sleeping out at the back of the community garden etc and some of them have various addictions of some kind or another so there is still growing challenges around the dispossessed that needs to be addressed.

Why? Because these people don’t have that sense of community and connection … and access to the resources to be able to change their lives - like to buy some land you are talking half a million dollars so there is definitely a different social strata

around different degrees of wealth, resources and affluence involved and amidst all this correct choices that have been taken.

Mark shares from a humorous perspective how the people strive for success and then laughingly asks how does one define success?

He says how do we equate neo liberal economics with half a dozen people sleeping in a car outside your house …?

That neo liberal perspectives are so interwoven into our society that often we all don’t realise how embedded we really are inside this economic model. Like a goldfish may have no concept of water!