2026 Project Plan

Now more than 3 years into the development of Kirra and we can see that this year is going to be a big year for us.

This is a plan of the things that we would like to achieve this year. With a focus specifically on increasing the utility of the community space and building more accommodation.

North Hamlet Garden (NHG)

Our continued focus on the North Hamlet Garden will allow the community space to commence larger scale operations in the areas of rainwater harvesting, gardens, tree, food and energy production. This area is also a storage area for large items that we have amassed in quantity, such as pipes, IBC Totes, timber, barrels, tin roofing amongst other things. All of which will be put to good use in the coming 12 months. Read more about the North Hamlet Garden.

General Infrastructure

• COMPLETE - Establish the Pond for the Vegetable Gardens in the North Hamlet Garden.

• COMPLETE - Clear the North Hamlet Garden and Level the area for the additional infrastructure.

• COMMENCED - Establish a larger pond where the lake site is planned. This will allow us to capture and store additional water while the lake is still been built.

• Lay gravel excavated from the lake to the community roads for all-weather access. 

• COMPLETE - Fence the North Hamlet Garden with 2-rail electric fence.

• COMPLETE - The North Hamlet Garden Amenities Block with landscaping and fencing.

• Modify the potable water for the North Hamlet Garden Amenities Block to come from the Central Water processing plant.

• Modify the Amenities Block waste to the central waste treatment plant.

• Modify the Amenities Block rain water catchment to return to the rain water harvesting system.

• Trench the above modifications.

Rainwater Harvesting System

• COMPLETE - Complete the earth works for the 270m2 rainwater harvesting system.

• COMPLETE - Build the NHG rainwater harvesting system

• COMPLETE - Install the large water tanks for the harvested rainwater (arriving 29th January 2026)

• Install the plumbing and pumps for the rain water system. Including multi-stage filters and pipes.

• COMPLETE - Design and Prototype the underground water distribution infrastructure plot pit. This is complete with WI-FI enabled water meters and disconnect for over use and emergencies. These are powered from the Electrical Pillar points.

• Trench and install the 25mm pipes for potable water from the central water pumping and storage system. 

• Trench and install the 90mm stormwater overflow to the NHG Garden and overflow IBC totes, and then to the NHG pond.

Power Generation System (NHG Power Centre) - Solar and Wind

Our new solar plant will be capable of generating upwards of 104kW of energy per day. Using 68 solar panels wired to switch in and out during the day, using High Voltage, High Amperage SSR switches controlled by a microprocessor to follow the sun. This is the equivalent of solar tracking for a stationary ground mounted system. As we are not specifically space restricted, and provided the entire array fits within the 270m2 of the rainwater harvesting space, this single space will service two of our most valuable commodities Water and Energy, 

• Install the West, North-West, North, North-East and East facing panels to harvest the maximum solar power during any given day.

• COMPLETE - Install the new Solar Shed base and foundations.

• Install a new solar shed with hail and lightning protection to house the equipment like Inverters, chargers and batteries.

• COMPLETE - Add an additional Growatt inverter to the inverter array allowing up to 11kW of power draw at any given time, with a peak of 12kW.

• COMPLETE - Add an additional 34.8 kW or storage to the existing array of 46.7kW or storage (for a total of 81.5kW)

• Finish the installation of the second automatic generator, which will sync with the first unit if both are required to provide back-up during low battery times. These will automatically start, sync and transfer to the Inverters once battery voltage gets low. They will assume the current load and provide battery charging capabilities simultaneously.

• Build and Install the 3 rail Solar Tracking system for the primary solar tracking 27 high-watt panels.

• Wire up the panels and the inverters, batteries, monitoring system, and generators.

• Establish a single 3kW demonstration PoC wind turbine in the NHG Power Centre, to test the performance, and to continue power generation during the night and during extended windy periods.

• COMPLETE - Design and Prototype the Electrical Pillars.

• Make and deploy the necessary Electrical pillars to service the plots. These will be completed in pairs of installations.

• Trench for cabling and electricity deployment.

Telecommunications

• Relocate the Starlink dish to the NHG Power Centre.

• Extend the WiFi (KirraNET) to include the South Hamlet Garden (SHG) with repeaters and access points at the bottom of the SHG, the top of the Kirra Civic Space and rewire the access point at the top of the NHG.

• Relocated the Weather station from Kirra Common to the NHG Power Centre.

Gardens

• COMMENCED - Establish a 225m2 shade area in the NHG. This will provide the sun and hail shelters necessary for our new raised garden beds. We will be experimenting with our own designed wicking beds that we have had huge success with in the Kirra Common area for the past few years. 

• This system will incorporate our automatic watering system and will include feedback to the pond so that there is zero water waste and minimal evaporation loss.

• Move and setup the 540 site hydroponic system that we will relocate from the Kirra Common space. 

• Setup the new Aquaponic tanks. We will be including fish, crays and mussels in our aquaculture and the nutrient will provide food for a specialist garden, while purifying the water that is returned to the aquaponic tanks.

Buildings and Homes

With our adjustable stump design complete and the first 45 units delivered, we are now able to commence building projects that we have been anticipating for a while now.

Phantom Load Circuit [more...]

All our home builds will focus on energy control and saving. As we generate all our own power, every house will have a Phantom Load Circuit (PLC). This circuit can be used for any device that has a clock or a remote and can be placed into stand-by mode. In Stand-By mode the device is still drawing valuable power, and in some cases this consistent "useless" background load can equal up to 15% of the energy used in a home. Our solution is to provide a separate circuit which has a single switch to turn the whole circuit off. This means that your microwave clock will turn off, together with the television, and any other device that draws constant power doing nothing.

Trombe Wall [more...]

All our houses are designed with a dense North facing Trombe Wall to capture heat during the day and radiate it back into the home during the night in winter. The addition of some simple venting makes the wall cooler during summer, so it operates in the reverse manner, drawing heat from the home. This solution costs very little to implement yet represents an energy saving of some 40%.

Reactive Power Correction [more...]

Because we generate all our own power, we want to prevent reactive power, so we will install "Passive Power Factor Correction Inductor" to each home. This will help prevent up to 95% of reactive power used when running any device with a inductive load, such as Refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners. Anything with an inductive load. 

PLOT #12 - Build a 1 Bedroom home, with spa bath bathroom and kitchen with 6-star energy rated appliances, to showcase the Hybrid building technique coupled with traditional methods and modern technology. This home will have 6-star air conditioning, modern gas and electric appliances, and all the things that you would expect in a modern home. This however, will also be a smart home, demonstrating its own power generation, water capture and purification and the whole thing is controlled by your smart phone. This home will have a hail protection system and a bushfire suppression system as part of its integral design.

PLOT #12 Fencing with access gate on Neo Way and another at the lake.

PLOT #3(a) - The plot will be sub-divided and split. On one side of the plot will be our treehouse caravan, which will turn a simple caravan into a tiny home. This has all the things that you would expect to find in a self-contained home, expect bathroom facilities, as it is less than 50 metres from the new amenities block in the North Hamlet Garden.

PLOT #3(b) - A small modern studio construction, similar to PLOT #12, except it will be a little smaller. Ideally suited to a couple or single, this will be a self-contained home.

PLOTS 3(a)/3(b) will be fenced and an access gate provided to each of the smaller plots.

Establish a temporary building for the Civic Centre to provide suitable storage and community facilities such as kitchen and eating area. It should be all weather and robust. Ideally it will be the start of a structure that can be further extended to meet the growing needs of the community and finally function at the maker space with machine shops and tools all available with suitable storage undercover.

PLOT #2 - A 2 bedroom construction, similar to plot #12's home.

PLOT #3(a), 3(b), #1, #2, #12 Cable for Power and pipes from water. To be fenced.