Page 7 - C.A.L.L. #32 - Summer 2010

village of Halton, just to the east of the city, ended a three-year search for a

suitable site.
Adopting the Danish co-housing model, Coates and his colleagues' plan is to build a
community on "ecological values and to be at the cutting edge of sustainable design
and living".
The houses, which will be a mix of sizes, will be built to the highest environmental
standards but cost the same as a conventional house of the same size in the area.
They will feature solar water heaters, and there are plans to put in a biomass boiler.
The long-term goal is to build an electricity generating hydro scheme using the
picturesque river Lune, which runs adjacent to the site.
Co-housing doesn't just make environmental sense, it can also make financial sense.

Residents should expect to save money on energy bills and through sharing things
such as cars and childcare costs. Cooking and eating communally is also deemed
important.
"We want to build a sustainable project that will become a beacon in the area, and I
guess we are united in our wanting to change things – to show that individuals can
make a difference”, says Coates.
"We are a diverse group of all ages, although we are somewhat under-represented by
the under-30s. Most of the group are in normal jobs, and we also have university
staff and retired people – a real mix."
Coates says that, with 21 of 30 houses accounted for so far, the group hopes that
planning permission will be granted soon (the previous developer had already obtained
outline approval for a housing scheme) and that the building work will commence next

year. The first groups will move in early in 2012, if all goes to plan.

For more details on the Lancaster project, go to Lancastercohousing.org.uk

Eco communities: Living Co-housing was dreamed up in Denmark in

the green life the idealistic 60s. It allows residents to
live in communities where they own their
own homes but are actively involved in
By Mark Tutton for CNN running their own neighborhoods, which

often include a common house where
As today's urbanites become more
concerned about reducing their carbon shared dining and other activities are an
footprints, some are finding that modern option.

eco communities offer them a way to live Sarah Berger, from the UK Co-housing
sustainably without foregoing their home Network, told CNN, "More and more
comforts. people keep contacting us about getting

involved in co-housing communities -
Communities that put an emphasis on
green values range from isolated eco there's an unquenchable thirst for this
villages to sophisticated co-housing sort of thing."
projects. As well as co-housing being widespread in

Europe, the U.S. Co-housing Association

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