Updated 23/05/05

Joining Arco-Iris

 – for a sustainable way of living at an eco-hamlet in the making

 

Frequently asked Questions … !

What is it? And what it isn’t, * What’s the glue? * How is the land owned? * What does it take to join the community? * Who can join the Community? * What if we don’t expect to live there all the time? * Who are ordinary and visitor members * What is joint owneship * Can I use your chain-saw? * Boundaries – your dog just eat my chicken! * Are there any rules and regulations? * How do decisions get made? * Who gets to sign legal documents? * Does everyone have to be present at these meetings? * What if you don’t want permanent dwelling occupancy but want a holiday home? * Can I rent out my dwelling?  Would I have to pay a proportion of the rental to the association? * How can the land be used? * What is shared land? * Who says what is sustainable? * Can I earn an income from shared land? * How do you buy and sell the land? * What is the value of a Land Share? * Can members sell their share back to the association? * Can my children inherit my share? * If the community isn’t working is there a way of disbanding it? * Can I make an investment?

 

If you have an unanswered question don’t hesitate to ask it!

What is it?

Arco-Iris is …

—    a village – a place to live and work in or from where you can share the land,

—    presently 10-acres of fertile land on the edge between a broad high plateau and the River Mira floodplain below.  There are some earth built houses, fields and terraces, pine and eucalyptus woods, a spring fed water supply, wells, streams and reservoirs.  The people who lived here are our neighbours, they live in the nearby village.  They are the Grandparents of the younger generation living in the modern estates,

—    a homestead where individuals, couples and families can live,

—    a place to learn, practise and live sustainably combining traditional ways with new technology and understanding,

—    part of a growing foot-print around the world: people creating a sustainable society, out of the old toward the new.

What it isn’t

Arco-Iris isn’t:

—    an isolated community – but a seemless part of society,

—    a place to escape to – but a place to be and to put down roots, express one’self creatively with responsibility and freedom,

—    a cult or ideological group of any kind – just people seeking to live simply and lightly on the earth,

—    a business or centre for enterprise – but a village where people carry out their own activities which may or may not be shared with other neighbours.

What’s the glue?

What glue’s us together is:

Choice; we are just people who want to be a part of a sustainable society.  By choosing to live this way and learn what this means and how it works we can show others one example so they can more confidently make their own.

You get to make your own choices.  What works for one may not work for another.  If your choice effects someone else it needs to work for them too or you get to face the music.  (See How do decisions get made?)

How is the land owned?

The land is held in trust for future generations.  It is owned by a neighbourhood group as a Cooperative.  It cannot be split up.  You buy a share in an eco-village and can sell that share on (See How do you buy and sell the land?).  This protects the land for speculative development and encourages land stewardship and guardianship for the future.  Not everyone who joins has to have money if their commitment and contributions are valued by the community.

What does it take to join the community?

You are a self-reliant, independent and open-minded person.  You can listen and have great communication skills and lots of patience.  You know yourself and how you fit in.  You’ve given up trying to save the planet and just need some space to create heaven on earth.  You love people and/or nature and are infinitely resourceful. Okay – you’re in!

Who can join the Community?

You may want to live in an earth or timber home.  You will need to invest enough money to pay for one of the registered dwellings or plots if re/building.  These are valued at about €45,000.  There is one plot that can be divided into two and is valued accordingly.

You may have little or no money, enough to build or buy the material cost of a temporary structure: Yurt or timber chalet for example. 

Do you see yourself living in a homestead, perhaps part of the time to begin with?  How do you fit in?  What are your ideas for the future?  Try the eco-village questionnaire - we welcome your sharing your thoughts with us.  Getting to know us getting to know you takes time.  We may just find we come from different planets.  And it takes time to adjust to local culture and the way things work – give yourself time.  After a provisional period of six months living here and you are accepted as part of the neighbourhood you are given appropriate legal documents and keys to the post box, in other words a full citizen of the community!

What if we don’t expect to live there all the time?

This is a village where people will probably want to live in their homes that they have lovingly rebuilt.  Realistically it takes some years to move completely to a new land and be independent.  If people cannot be here for 3 months or more they are asked to let the community know.  The 3-month guideline is mainly suggested to avoid the decline of any of the buildings left unattended.

Who are ordinary and visitor members, how do they contribute and who decides how the money is spent?

We want to participate in a sustainable society.  Not everyone has money but the land must be purchased.  People who want to live in a registered permanent home need to invest about €45,000.  We have called them “investor members”.

Ordinary members are those who would like to join the village but do not have as much capital.  We have for instance one person who only has £10,000.  Such a person could team up with another and joint purchase a permanent dwelling.  But there is room enough for the erection of a couple of wooden houses which do not have foundations and which do not require planning permission.  They are classed as temporary dwellings.   The amount of the main contribution from such a member still has to be determined but a practical amount to invest would be €7 to €10,000.  This money is repayable as with any investment.  An ordinary member would also sell their (wooden) house if they wish to move on.

Long term visitors can stay and contribute their work and live in low impact dwellings such as yurts etc.

Any money that is not used for the purchase of the land will be placed in an account in the name of the association and will be administered by the trustees in the normal way of any constituted organisation.

What is joint owneship and what is individual responsibility, for example if one member wants wind power do they have to pay for it all themselves or does the community have to fund it jointly?

Joint ownership is where two or more people wish to share, either as a family or where one person does not have the full amount and may wish to invite others to jointly purchase a full share. It would be up to the individuals as to how they use the property, just as it would in shared accommodation in UK.

In the case of power each individual house owner(s) will be responsible for their own installations – unless a shared option is thought necessary then each resident will contribute by agreement.

Can I use your chain-saw?

Living at Arco-Iris means sharing needs, helping out, give and take, use but not abuse.  Sharing chain-saws, motor cars and women is not recommended.

Boundaries – your dog just eat my chicken!

Everyone needs their privacy and possessions protected.  What you do in you own place is your own business.  How much space do you need?  Each dwelling has a natural boundary.  Everything outside that natural boundary is shared land.  If what you do is going to effect others it is best first worked out with them directly, or with everyone in a community talking circle.  If after the event happened then making good is being open to learn from mistakes.  

Are there any rules and regulations?

Yes – no dogs!  Rules and regs are needed when lessons don’t get learned, and when we need others to make decisions for us.

How do decisions get made?

Everyone who is a part of the community can participate equally in decision making.  Decision making and resolving disputes are done together where others are involved or effected in some way or another.

Sometimes decisions need to be taken when not everyone is present or agrees.  Such decisions need to be taken with the best interests of the community.  They may need to be justified and the consequences handled if some people didn’t know about it or didn’t agree.

Everyone is encouraged to practise true speaking, participate in talking circles and learn the art of listening and group non-violent communication skills.

If disputes don’t get resolved directly then a third person may volunteer to counsel the parties involved.  Circle meetings with all neighbours are a last resort for resolving disputes within the community.  Constitutional matters may require legal solutions.

Who gets to sign legal documents?

The Cooperative votes and appoints 3 members annually to handle the admin., likely to be those who are living mostly on the land.

Does everyone have to be present at these meetings? Not practical unless living there.

Day to day matters will be up to the members who are living on site and would not concern any who is not.  Anything major that would affect everyone would be relayed by e-mail or by telephone.

What if you don’t want permanent dwelling occupancy but want a holiday home?

Permanent dwelling occupancy means owning one of the dwellings.  This may mean it is just for holidays and only visit a couple of times a year.  But as the village has been set up to be an example to others of sustainable living you would need to show how your intended use of the dwelling would contribute to this.

Most people who join the community will see it as their home, if not now then in the foreseeable future.

Can I rent out my dwelling?  Would I have to pay a proportion of the rental to the association?

Each member can rent their dwelling as long as someone here is informed of their arrival and provided the lessee is conversant with the nature of the village. 

How can the land be used?

Shared land can be used for anything that has sustainability in mind.  You may want to grow food, plants or trees, keep some animals, run workshops, events or dissapear into nature’s garden.  You may want to run a business.

We decide on how to use and gain from the land and its resources from our ideas and interests as a whole.  Can the land support it?  How does the community benefit?

What is shared land?

Shared land consists of the zones not immediately around the dwellings, such as the olive grove, the river area etc, which would be deemed in any village as common ground.

Who says what is sustainable?

The sustainability aspect is a personal thing and would be determined by the members, e.g use of chemicals, connecting up to the National grid or building a theme park would certainly be questioned.  Sustainability generally implies supporting life from local and natural resources which are themselves sustained.  What’s your take on this?

Can I earn an income from shared land?

If a member wishes to use shared land for a personal income then there would be an agreed percentage payable to the association, as money or by exchange.

How do you buy and sell the land?

No one can “own” the land though people do.  At Arco-Iris we invest in the land as our share in an eco-village.  This way it gets handed on to future generations. 

The land is owned as a Cooperative with all neighbours as members.  The Cooperative is registered in Portugal and issues Shares to people investing money who want to live in a dwelling of some kind they can call home.

Permanent community members are those who hold a share and are prepared to spend some time during each year.  The concept of the "community' is that it is a village same as any ordinary village in UK, except in this instance land is shared as would be common land in UK.  Here where there is more than one dwelling on a piece of land it cannot be split.  If a few people decide to purchase a piece of land jointly in all names, then when one wants to sell everyone has to sell.  The idea of buying in the name of a Coop/association eliminates that problem.  This way the members can buy in and sell  but on paper the land stays in the name of the same owner, namely the Association.

The land with several registered ruins or dwellings for habitation is bought as one or more title deeds called “Cardinettas”.  A Share Certificate is given to you identifying your dwelling and the amount of your investment, plus a copy of the Cardinetta, once you are an accepted and fully paid up member.  Your money is secure because your Share Certificate is a legal document under both contract law and cooperative/company law. 

When you buy into the community you can consult with the Lawyer who has helped us register the Cooperative under Portuguese law.  Using your own lawyer in Portugal is costly and unnecessary because 1) all the issues of security have been worked out, 2) the Cooperative is offering you a secure service, 3) you can trust being part of a neighbourhood and its land more than owning a bit of the planet.

What is the value of a Land Share?

A Land Share gives you the right to live in the community in a dwelling.  At present the dwellings need rebuilding or building from scratch.  The number of Land Shares relate to the number of registered habitable dwellings or plots.  But not all dwellings exist perhaps just the outline remains.  Portuguese law allows for new construction not necessarily on top of the original ruin.   Such a plot can be divided into two part-Shares, each with a new construction.  If more built space is needed part or all the new construction can be with temporary foundations to provide a home, workshop or utility building, covered space.

A Land Share is valued at the market value of the overall land divided by the number of dwellings.  This protects the community from speculative development but allows for increased resale value at market rates, i.e. not-for-profit. 

Can members sell their share back to the association without finding another member to buy it, or does it mean a member must sell the share to another member who has to join the association?

Both the member and the association must make efforts to attract someone else who is prepared to become a member.  It is possible that if the Association had the funds then it could buy the share in order to re-sell if the selling member wanted to sell urgently and no immediate buyer were forthcoming.

Can I make an investment?

The only investments are by buying a share.  The return on the investment is as described above, which is guaranteed as market values are increasing, and if the investment includes rebuilding, or infrastructure or land improvement, for example, the return will be that much greater.

Can my children inherit my share?

Under Portuguese law all members of the immediate and distant relatives inherit.  Our Constitution states that such relatives inherit the sale value but not the rights to live in the community – unless accepted by all members.

 

 

If the community isn’t working is there a way of disbanding the association and giving each member their money?

If the community has to be wound up, then the land is sold as a whole the value of which would be split equally.  If everyone dies, the association will be wound up, and share value paid to inheritors.  If not all shares inherited this way the land would be offered to a similar project with the same aims  We have a lawyer working for us and she would oversee that this is done in accordance with Portuguese Law.

 

 

Thanks for taking your time to study these Qu/Answers.  Your questioning is always welcomed and makes one reflect more on the real values of sharing land for living cooperatively.