Website just being reworked and restored first. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Joining the community begins with a mutual "getting to know each other" process - come for dinner, stay as a commercial guest or volunteer for a couple of weekends or longer, talk with us while you're here and get a feel for the people and place. After that, if it feels right for you there is rental application form to complete that has a few extra questions to help you and us to understand what is drawing you to community. Once the application is accepted you continue in a process of "trying it out" for 3 to 9 months before applying for membership, if that is what you wish to do. During the trial stage you participate in the same community activities and processes as other community members and you have equal weight in decision-making. If you do not wish to participate at this level but are still interested in community living, it is sometimes possible to arrange to rent onsite without becoming a trial community member.
Rentals range from $90/wk for a room up to $280/wk for a cottage (this is discounted by $10/wk once you become a member). Utilities (electricity, gas, telephone calls, broadband internet) costs $20pp/wk. Household Kitty (food - mainly organic, consumables, food garden items) costs $50pp/wk (and this is discounted by $10/wk once you become a member).
We share food (dinner is shared and breakfast and lunch are DIY). This is great socially, and it is also good for the environment (less separate cooking plates), cheaper (bulk buying, less energy consumption) and saves time (usually you cook once a week and just turn up to a prepared meal for the rest of the week). Community members commit to 8hrs/wk of work to keep the community functioning - administration, cleaning, maintenance, gardening, etc depending on skills, interests and needs.
If you haven't already done so, please take a look through our website (www.bellbunya.org.au). It will also give more of a sense of what we are on about. There is information about guest accommodation and our volunteer program, too. I have a longer document (almost 30 pages) that lays out some of our original policies/agreements which I can seend if you are interested in reading that. Just let me know.
If you are interested in coming over for dinner, just let us know what nights of the week usually work best for you and I'll see what we can line up.