Monthly Archives: July 2020

Kirsten Stevens-Wood, a lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University explores the different international communities that have created fairer communities where relationships and the environment are given primacy.

Frankie lives in a six-bedroom house on the outskirts of Leeds. She is her own landlord but doesnt own the house. Instead, she is part of a co-operative housing group: together, they have been able to buy the house and then rent it at an affordable price back to themselves as tenants.

Just a few miles away, another group has secured funding to design and build an eco-community of up to 30 households, including what is known as a common house: a shared house with a kitchen, laundry, workshops, a meeting space, guest rooms and gardens.

Much further away in north-east Germany is a 37-acre site where a group of people live and work together sharing food, childcare and resources. They have created a community where relationships and the environment are given primacy.

All three of these are examples of intentional communities: groups of people who have chosen to live together in a way that reflects their shared values.

These communities come in a variety of shapes and forms, from squats and housing co-operatives to communes and co-housing communities.

Intentional communities are by no means a new idea, but they have often been cited as the experimental spaces or testbeds for the future.

They are sometimes considered as utopian experiments where groups and people strive to create a better life.

Many people are looking for antidotes to ever-increasing consumption and feelings of social isolation. There is no single solution, and we will need to look at all aspects of our lives, from the way we consume to day-to-day practices.

But for some, the solution is to be found in communal living and intentional communities. It may be that some of the ideas being tested in these communities can create the blueprints for the towns and cities of tomorrow.

Alternative lifestyles

There is some evidence that intentional communities are formed as responses to the concerns of society at any given time.

Back in the 1970s, many new communities were formed as a backlash to mass urbanisation and industrialisation. Such groups bought up rural property, often with land, and attempted a back to the land lifestyle informed by ideas of self-sufficiency.

Many of these communities failed, but some still function successfully today, often in their original form.

For example, Canon Frome Court collectively manages a 40-acre organic farm in Herefordshire. Together, the community grows much of its own food and keeps cows, sheep and chickens.

It is difficult to estimate the number of intentional communities worldwide, but they are certainly in the thousands.

In the UK alone there are around 300 listed (and many more that are not), with new communities springing up every year.

If we were to use intentional communities as a gauge of social discontent, then the multiple pressures of housing, lack of community, an ageing society and, of course, climate change would be central to this feeling.

Look a little deeper, and these problems are actually part a much wider group of social concerns around consumption, global inequality and planetary limits.

In mainstream society, the solutions to these interlocking ideas are presented as top-down measures made via policy, legislation and global agreements, but also as personal choices made by individuals and groups: driving and flying less, consuming more ethically, eating a more plant-based diet, changing the way we work and live.

Those within intentional communities would say that they have been ahead of the curve on this for many years, with ideas such as vegetarianism and self-sufficiency often central to their way of life.

They often occupy the necessary middle ground between government policy and individual action. The documentary maker Helen Iles named her series of films on intentional communities Living in the future.

Living in the future

So what can we tell about possible directions of wider society from the intentional communities of today?

Some rural communities have embraced low-impact development.

For example, Rhiw Las, a rural eco-community in west Wales, has created a sustainable settlement based on strict ecological guidelines.

Meanwhile, urban-based communities, such as Bunker Housing Co-operative in Brighton, look to create high-quality affordable housing for local people. Such co-operatives are based on the principle of collective control and management of the property.

They enable groups of people who might not have access to secure housing to form a legal entity, which enables them to collectively buy and own property. They also have the capacity to incorporate or support co-operative businesses, such as food or printing co-ops.

Urban housing co-ops are particularly relevant in areas where house prices and rents can be prohibitively high and exclude certain groups, such as precarious workers or younger people.

Housing co-ops can offer secure housing options that also empower people and enable them to live within their means.

The group Radical Routes (a network of radical co-ops) also suggests that when people are freed from excessive rent payments, they are then freer to engage with their communities and participate in social change.

Todays urban communities capitalise on urban cycle networks and public transport. They are also more likely to engage with green transport options such as electric carpooling and on-site workspaces to reduce travel entirely.

Fishponds Co-Build, a prospective community on the edge of Bristol, has created its own sustainability action plan. Together, they have outlined ways they intend to reduce their carbon footprint through communal living.

The ideas fermented in past communities, such as straw-bale building and shared ownership, are being developed in exciting and creative ways to transform rural and urban living.

This can incorporate new building techniques, such as PassiveHaus design in Lancaster Co-Housing, and the development of alternative spaces, such as car-free neighbourhoods.

Intentional communities may not be the solution to all our problems, but they certainly represent an area of experimentation in the ways we share space, shape community and provide a peek at potential ways forward in uncertain times.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here.

Photo Credit Pixabay

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Communities experimenting with greener and fairer ways of living - Environment Journal

In 1946, George Orwell wrote, But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. These words convey a fundamental truth about the relationship between what we say, the perceptions we hold, and the imagery we evoke through our linguistic choices. Some words or phrases are widely understood to intentionally hurt or provoke, but plenty of others have less obvious insidious and corrupting effects.

The events of the past several weeks have spurred a renewed call to recognize that words matter, particularly in the struggle for racial justice. This has led major media outletsincluding the Associated Press and The New York Timesto capitalize Black, a simple and long overdue signal of respect for the shared identity, history, and experiences of people who identify as Black. For years, other organizations and writers have been advocating for the use of more humanizing language that acknowledges peoples circumstances without defining them by the same.

This awareness has implications for not only how we talk about people, but also the places where they live. Journalists, practitioners, and researchersincluding those of us at Brookingsoften employ short-hand labels such as distressed places, struggling neighborhoods, high-crime areas, or any such combination of deficit plus geography to describe communities impacted by racism, disinvestment, physical destruction, and economic exclusion. But just like the labels we attach to people, such language reduces these communities to only their challenges, while concealing the systemic forces that caused those challenges and the systemic solutions needed to combat them.

At the Bass Center for Transformative Placemakinga center focused on the economic, social, physical, and civic well-being of communitieswe are committing to avoid such labels in our work and employing intentional, systems-informed, and specific language about place. This commitment is not intended to be symbolic, but instead to be more consistent withand true toour efforts to effectively co-design and communicate research and strategies aimed at eradicating systemic inequities and creating more connected, vibrant, and inclusive communities. Our commitment stems from three fundamental truths about how language impacts how we think, and what we do:

Language about place matters, because it can be used to justify actions taken toward people. The United States has a long history of using coded language about place to justify policy and practice decisions that impact people. Take the term blight for example, which transposed the language of disease onto places, with devastating consequences for the people of color living within them. The designation of an area as blighted was used to justify numerous racial injustices throughout the 20th century, including urban renewal, eminent domain, and the displacement of thousands of Black families. Some in power (including our current president) continue to use itoften in combination with terms such as high-crime, inner cities, and other racially coded language as a way to rationalize over-policing in Black neighborhoods, provoke anti-immigrant sentiment, and advocate for policies favoring wealthy investors over long-time residents.

While blighted is at the far end of a continuum of thinly veiled yet harmful language, place language can also produce negative consequences even when its not explicitly infused with racist tropes. Terms such as distressed or disadvantaged further a narrative in which certain placesmostly neighborhoods of colorare seen as un-investable due to their perceived inability to generate profit or political support. These terms paint an image of places beyond repair, where residents ought to move away from or that need to be fixed by outsiders. Such terminology disregards a communitys strengths and assets, as well as the dedicated community leaders that have long been leading strategies to improve neighborhood conditions.

When language about place obscures systemic causes, it impedes systemic solutions. As Urban Institute researchers recently argued, ahistorical and decontextualized language (whether it be about racial disparities, crime, or poverty) focuses on a communitys challenges and minimizes its long-standing injustices. This can lead to ineffective policy solutions that target the symptoms, rather than the root causes, of those injustices.

A robust body of research shows that most contemporary conditions of community distress and disadvantage are not natural conditions or produced by the actions of residents. They are the result of intentional public policies and private actions sustained over generations (including slavery, Jim Crow, discriminatory housing ordinances, federal highway programs, predatory lending, inequitable public education systems, over-policing, and mass incarceration, to name just a few). When we fail to draw the explicit connection between historical and contemporary practices of discrimination shaping the conditions of places, we leave it up to the reader to determine who is to blame for distress, furthering stigma and racism while making it harder to advance structural solutions.

Vague language about place can prevent unique, tailored strategies. Simply naming systemic inequities isnt enough. The term historically disinvested, for instance, accurately calls out a root cause of distress. But it is often used as a catch-all term to describe places grappling with socioeconomic injustices, when in reality, historical disinvestment is just one tool of structural racism that has been implemented in conjunction with an interconnected set of policies and practices aimed at chipping away places economic, social, physical, and civic foundations. Moreover, the challenges wrought by disinvestment cannot be remedied by an infusion of capital alonea strategy often employed with mixed results in communities across the country.

To generate effective solutions, language about place must be specific about the inequities shaping conditions in places, as well as those places unique histories, contemporary circumstances, assets, and strengths. This means resisting the tendency to lump remarkably unique places under a single label. No place is simply just high-povertythat may be a challenge the community is facing, but communities shouldnt be vaguely categorized as poor without meaningfully considering the whole place, the wholeness of the people who live there, and the holistic set of solutions needed to support them.

Shifting language will not repair the decades of harm and stigmatization inflicted on communities, but it should prompt us to be explicit about the systemic sources of their conditions, precise about the systemic solutions needed to combat them, and understanding about how language influence peoples lives. The breadth of a communitys qualities and characteristics cant be captured by one term or stylistic change. But throughout our work, the Bass Center will strive to employ language that embodies the following principles:

We hope other researchers and writers also embrace these principles, so that we can collectively stamp out George Orwells corrupt thought and envision transformative policies, practices, and interventions that holistically support places and the people within them.

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Recognizing that words have the power to harm, we commit to using more just language to describe places - Brookings Institution

This might not seem the most ideal time to move into a new place with a bunch of other people striving to form a close-knit community, but when youve been waiting years for this to happen, its also no time to be too choosy.

The first households began moving in June into the new Richmond Cohousing community, a four-story, 19-unit condo building in Manchester that has been in the works for almost a decade.

It felt so surreal to move in, said Meg Lessard, who arrived with husband, David, and their 3-year-old son, Elliott. I cant believe were finally here.

Said Rachel Lucy, another resident, Its been a really long time coming.

Cohousing is an intentional community built around shared spaces such as a large kitchen and communal dining area that stresses neighborly connectedness, cooperation and governance. A common misconception is that cohousing is a form of communal living. It is not.

Participants in a cohousing community own their own dwellings individually and do not share their incomes or anything like that, though they do share things like ironing boards and coffee grinders.

The organization is legally structured as a condo association with all residents participating in management and decision-making through what it calls modified consensus not simply an up-or-down, yea-or-nay vote, but an effort to find solutions in the middle ground that everyone can support or at least live with.

The cohousing concept originated in Denmark and was introduced in the United States in the early 1980s. Some communities feature single-family dwellings, while others, such as the Richmond community, include condos in a single building.

According to a directory on the Cohousing Association of the United States, there are more than 300 such communities across the nation, including those that are established, under construction or in the formation stage. Richmond Cohousing joins six other established cohousing communities in Virginia with others in the works.

I wrote about the Richmond group in 2015 as it searched for a site to build its community and then again in December 2018 when it had settled on a location on Porter Street in the rejuvenated Manchester neighborhood and secured a developer.

The building includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units each with its own kitchen, which is a frequent question priced between the high $100,000s and the high $300,000s.

About 10 families have settled in, while others are moving in gradually. Four units remain unspoken for and will be rented if they are not sold. The other units are owner-occupied, the residents having been involved in planning for years and building a rapport with one another through regular get-togethers.

Residents range in age from 30 to 85. The only child so far is Elliott Lessard, though Rachel Lucy, a registered nurse, and her husband, Theo Cisu, a surgical resident at VCU, are expecting a baby in October.

The attraction of cohousing is obvious: a built-in community in which everyone who joins cohousing is really committing to community, sharing, knowing each other, conflict resolution, said resident Ann Kramer.

Ive lived all over the country, said Kramer, a counselor who is recently widowed. My husbands work took us to a lot of different cities. I learned early on that when you move to a new city ... if youre going to have community, you have to get out of your home and make connections. With cohousing, you sort of already have it.

She appreciates the variety of her surroundings, being within walking distance of downtown and the James River Park System.

The Lessards are self-described introverts who still want to be with people.

When we lived in a single-family home, it always felt like a little extra work to make plans, she said. It took a lot of organizing to just hang out with each other. To be able to spontaneously hang out with people had a lot of appeal.

Both of the Lessards grew up in military families and having a really close-knit community wherever we lived, said Meg, a clinical research coordinator at Childrens Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Her husband works at Capital One. We could see how important and valuable that was, and we were looking for something similar.

Lucy and Cisu joined Richmond Cohousing in 2018 and have been helping to plan the development of the community and getting to know their future-and-now neighbors, which has already paid off, she said.

It has been really wonderful to be surrounded by a community, especially while moving, Rachel said. Moving is just an inherently stressful thing. Its just so nice to have people around willing to help.

Shes even recognized a pleasant, distinctive vibe even doing something as mundane as taking out the trash and running into people they actually know.

Living in our everyday houses, most of us dont get to see friends like that unless its scheduled ahead of time, she said.

What has been slightly disappointing is the inability to use the indoor common areas for activities such as meal preparation and meal sharing because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the new residents have discovered the beauty of the common space on the rooftop, which theyve turned into their primary gathering spot. All the while they keep a safe social distance and enjoy one anothers company, Rachel Lucy said.

The roof deck has been amazing, Meg Lessard said. Its breezy, and the views are wonderful, and there are no bugs.

She said the family goes up to the roof after dinner, and their son will say, Are my friends coming up, too?

Link:

Richmond's first cohousing community opens into Manchester - and there's room for you - Richmond.com

5 min read657 views and 108 shares Posted July 13, 2020

Lebanon County has received a $300,000 federal grant to increase its COVID-19 testing capacity.

In an interview with LebTown, Welsh Mountain Health Center CEO Jackie Concepcion said a program to launch testing will begin this Tuesday and will continue Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of August.

Each event will offer free COVID-19 testing to county residents as well as the distribution of free masks, hand sanitizer and information packets concerning ways to limit the spread of the virus. In addition, two of the events will include the distribution of food donated by the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Concepcion added.

Prior to receiving the funding, we had been in conversations with the PA Department of Health because Lebanon County has been a hot spot, especially in Lebanon city on the north side of town where there has been elevated levels of COVID-positive cases particularly among minorities, Concepcion said. If you remember a few weeks ago, when everyone was going yellow or green, Lebanon was being held back because it was still a hot spot.

While two of the events will be held at the health centers 920 Church Street location, including the one this Tuesday, the other six will be held at various locations around the city.

We are collaborating with Latino Connection and Aetna Better Health to use their mobile unit called CORA, Concepcion said. Between now and the end of August, CORA will allow us to get out into the greater community. Were opening up the testing to anyone in the community who has symptoms but also to anyone who has been in close contact with someone who is positive. We will also provide testing to anyone who believes they may have the virus.

Concepcion said she is grateful to have access to CORA which is short for the Spanish word corazn, or heart to increase their testing outreach within the community.

If people have barriers to get to our testing site, they dont have to worry, Concepcion said. Well be able to offer testing at that very local level of where these people live thanks to CORA.

George Fernandez, CEO, Latino Connection said his organizations participation helps fulfill their mission to bring together members of the Latino community and his clients, including those from the healthcare industry.

Latino Connection remains committed to the community and intentional in partnering with organizations providing valuable resources to underserved populations, especially amidst the current state of the world, Fernandez said in a written statement. The time is now more than ever to mobilize and improve outreach, access and increase testing in vulnerable communities, especially those areas of the state with surging COVID cases.

Concepcion said food, which has been donated by the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, will be distributed this Tuesday and on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Two boxes, one filled with dry goods and one with fresh produce, will be provided per car or to those who are walk-ins to the event.

The food bank has generously donated 150 boxes of dried food and an additional 20 pounds of fresh produce, Concepcion said. So not only will they be getting fresh, wholesome foods, but we will be giving them free information on everything related to COVID on top of that.

Andy Dessel, Health Innovations Manager, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. said the food distribution is part of an ongoing effort to help people in their time of need.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to present challenges to our neighbors, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank understands the essential connection between access to nutritious foods and health, Dessel said in a written statement. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is proud to once again partner with the team at Welsh Mountain Health Center to help meet the health needs of the Lebanon community particularly those affected by the health and economic consequences of COVID-19. Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and Welsh Mountain are committed to ensuring that all community members have access to nutritious foods and high quality healthcare services.

Concepcion said the testing and food distribution are part of an ongoing effort, and part of the centers mission, to address social determinants of health, which are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status.

All of our centers have social workers whose jobs are to address issues around food insecurity, housing, education needs, employment or anything that is a barrier that often prevents them from being healthy, Concepcion said. What weve found through screening our patients is that many of our clients have food insecurities.

Read more: [Photo Story] Local leaders tour Lebanon Community Health Center

Concepcion added that food insecurity is a major issue within the Latino community and the main reason they are partnering with the food bank at two of these events.

Weve found that many of our patients in Lebanon have food insecurities, Concepcion said. We have people who dont have enough food to get them through the month. Others are diabetic and have diet needs and when we speak to them about getting healthy and becoming more active, they tell us they dont have enough food to make it through the month. Or, they dont have healthy foods in their homes.

Concepcion added that this eight-day testing program, along with the food distribution, is part of an ongoing initiative with the goal of helping people improve their health. At a previous event, the local food bank distributed 200 boxes of food to about 120 cars and to walk ups.

All of the boxes were gone within 1.5 hours, Concepcion said. So there is this need, a huge need here in Lebanon County.

Testing & Food Distribution (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)Lebanon Community Health Center 920 Church Street, Lebanon

Testing (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.)Webster Manor 1012 Brock Drive, Lebanon

Testing (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)River of Life Church 825 N. 7th Street, Lebanon

Testing (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)Living Christian Church 370 N. 7th Street, Lebanon

Testing (10 a.m. to 12 pm.)Village Apartments 201 Village Drive, Lebanon

Testing (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.)Optimist Park 1400 Elder Street, Lebanon

TENTATIVE Testing (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)St. Benedict the Abbot Church 1300 Lehman Street, Lebanon

Testing (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)Lebanon Community Library 125 N. 7th Street, Lebanon

Testing and Food Distribution (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)Lebanon Community Health Center 920 Church Street, Lebanon

TENTATIVE Testing (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)Free Bird Chicken Plant 2609 US 22, Fredericksburg

Testing (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.)Walnut Street Park 1551 Walnut Street, Lebanon

Read all of LebTowns COVID-19 coverage here.

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Welsh Mountain receives approval as COVID testing center, thought to be first walk-up facility in county - LebTown

Around the country, communities of color continue to be among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. So in many of these communities, local leaders are stepping in to try to help solve a problem they say is years in themaking.

In Richmond, Va., crews of local firefighters and volunteers have been fanning out across the city, going door to door with plastic bags, filled with masks, hand sanitizer, and information about stayinghealthy.

Local health officials say African Americans and Latinos make up the lions share of positive cases here, and 23 out of 29 local deaths from the virus so far have been among thosegroups.

On a recent visit to a public housing complex, Lt. Travis Stokes with the Richmonds fire department said that result was sadly and entirelypredictable.

Its always gonna affect the lower-income communities and the minorities, just for the simple matter of fact that theyve been dealing with things for many, many years, Stokes said. It hasnt gone away; its stillhere.

Richmonds coronavirus data mirrors national statistics that show the vastly disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on communities of color. According to Centers for Disease Control data, Black Americans are hospitalized at about five times the rate of white Americans. For Hispanics, the rate is four times that ofwhites.

Stokes, who recently completed a doctoral degree in health sciences, is helping lead the effort, which targets areas with high rates of poverty and pre-existing health conditions, and with significant numbers of residents who are racial minorities. All are groups considered at heightened risk for thecoronavirus.

Richmond is partnering with the Commonwealth of Virginia to distribute tens of thousands of bags of personal protective equipment in an effort to help address the racialgaps.

Dr. Danny Avula, Richmonds public health director, said another goal is building trust with people who might be fearful of government officials after a long history ofoppression.

Our response to that was, OK, weve got to be on the ground more; weve got to engage in more face-to-face conversation, and we have to find credible voices and faces in those communities to be able to carry the message, Avulasaid.

Leaders and activists around the country are grappling with similar challenges as they try to reach the people at greatestrisk.

In Massachusetts, officials are hiring local workers from community health centers to work as contact tracers who can, in many cases, literally speak the language of the people theyre trying toreach.

Michael Curry, an official with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and a member of the NAACPs national board of directors, said thats important at a time when many people are trying to navigate complicated and sometimes conflicting messages from healthofficials.

Its all so confusing and it makes people very distrustful even moreso distrustful of the system hence why you need to be very intentional about who communicates with them, Currysaid.

In Mississippi, NAACP leaders say theyve been distributing masks to people living in hotspots for thevirus.

Dr. Oliver Brooks, president of the National Medical Association, a group representing black physicians, says efforts like these are a goodstart.

Its really important, because literally right now, people are dying, so you need to have an acute response, Brookssaid.

But Brooks says preventing another crisis like this one will require substantial, systemic changes to improve access to food, housing, employment, and healthcare for people ofcolor.

We have to address the social determinants of health. That is what is putting us at higher risk for poor outcomes, he said. Its the same old story, but thats what needs to bedone.

Angel Dandridge-Riddick, 34, has worked as a nurse and sometimes visits her mother in the public housing complex in Richmond called Creighton Court. On the day of the supply distribution, she said she appreciated the effort to provide protective equipment to people here, but cautioned that its only a smallstart.

What theyre doing is great but to have one hand sanitizer and a few masks if you have three other people in their home that work in different areas, theyre gonna need their own hand sanitizer. One bottles probably gonna last you a week, Dandridge-Riddicksaid.

Whats more, she said, its hard for many of her neighbors to stay healthy during a pandemic, when they often lack basichealthcare.

Im just being honest, a lot of people out here in Creighton Court dont know anything about health care coverage; all they know is Medicaid, she said. And if they cant get it, they dont haveanything.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says the problems that have compounded this pandemic for many people of color have been around for a long time, and without major structural changes, they will still be around when the pandemic is over. Stoney said he hopes this crisis gives way to long-termchange.

We cant go back to where we were pre-COVID-19; weve gotta go to a different place that ensures that each and every citizen of this country gets the best, Stoney said. No matter what neighborhood they live, or the color of their skin.

Explore Nearby Adventures

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In Minority Neighborhoods, Knocking On Doors To Stop The Spread Of The Coronavirus - OPB News

Bellingen is a buzzy little town straddling the gorgeous Waterfall Way, which links the serene beaches of the New South Wales mid-north coast with the escarpments of the Great Dividing Range. Bello to the locals, its had many lives, from timber-mill town and dairy hub to hippie hideout, environmentalist holdout and hipster hangout.

Logging trucks still roll through town past the hemp store, butter factory-turned-craft centre, spiffed-up Victorian and Art Deco shopfronts, and an edgy Japanese restaurant in a ramshackle wooden house. Locals sing in a Gumbaynggirr-language choir at the community centre. Hearthfire Bakery creates breads from local flours and, across the road, second-generation butchers, Thorns Gourmet Meats and Smokehouse, sell some of the countrys finest pork, beef and small goods. Local kids play in the acclaimed Bellingen Youth Orchestra when theyre not rewilding in the bush. And as the sun sets across the lime-green alluvial valley, everyone is invited to join Bellos progressives on Friday nights at the Cedar Bar (at least in pre-Covid-19 times).

Aboriginal elder and Gumbaynggirr language teacher Micklo Jarrett explains how our Dreamtime stories describe the ocean 120km east of where it is now, which proves our people have been in this region for more than 10,000 years. Today, the Gumbaynggirr people have been active in stopping logging for wood chips in the nearby Nambucca state forest. All we want to do is preserve the land for everyone, he says.

Meanwhile, the National Parks Association of NSW is lobbying the government to establish the Great Koala national park nearby, to link protected forests so the dwindling koala population can thrive again.

Journalist Peter Geddes turned up with his family in the 1970s. Hes working on a documentary about Bellingens hippie era, when alternative lifestylers rented houses for $2 a week and used to ride into town on horseback. We made something out of nothing and eventually the old-timers came to accept that Bellingen turned out pretty well with a sustainable lifestyle, he says. Im a little surprised how straight its become, though. People wear clothes now.

Yet, Bello has held on to its free-thinking spirit, and over the years has attracted creative types inspired by the beauty of the surroundings. Peter Carey was living in a Richard Leplastrier-designed treehouse in the Promised Land, across the Bellinger River, when he conceived his Booker prize-winning novel Oscar and Lucinda, which is inspired by the little church in Gleniffer.

Bellingen remains a bubble of progressive politics in National party heartland. Kevin and Lowanna Doye are part of the new wave. After cycling from the UK to Sydney (it took over a year and a cargo ship was involved) to highlight the environmental impact of air travel, they moved into one of Bellos 27 multiple-occupancy intentional communities and opened Kombu Wholefoods in 2004, to sell local organic produce at affordable prices. Bellingen shire ranges from subtropical coastal regions to 1,500 metres elevation on the escarpment so they can source everything from mangoes, bananas, avocados, macadamia nuts and pineapples to all sorts of greens, pumpkins, potatoes, carrots, citrus and stone fruits.

I live in a beautiful place connected with my family doing something I believe in. Our philosophy is all about strengthening the local community.

In times like these, it all makes perfect sense.

The Bellingen Community Markets are held every third Saturday at Bellingen Park. Sample orange Jaffa and caramelised fig and marsala gelato at Bellingen Gelato.

Browse Australian fashion brands, linens and beauty products at the Art Deco HYDE Bellingen, as well as Emporium Bellingen in the 1900s Hammond and Wheatley building.

In normal times, the festival calendar (Camp Creative, the Bellingen fine music festival, The Bellingen readers and writers festival, etc) is brilliant.

Whod have thought Middle Eastern street food and hip Japanese fusion would be the local go-to spots in a NSW country town but this is Bellingen, after all. Qudo dishes up dazzling barramundi teriyaki and sushi rolls infused with greens, while Zaatar cafe offers falafel, hummus plates and lamb kofta in fluffy pita bread. Black Bear cafe is the spot for breakfast on the sunny terrace. And for excellent pizzas, craft beer and a pared-back urban vibe, head to Bellingen Brewery.

Rent a cottage in the Promised Land through Airbnb and other agencies. The best campgrounds are Reflections Holiday Parks beside the Kalang River estuary in Urunga and a free camping site next to the general store in Thora, on the drive up the escarpment to Dorrigo.

Go canoeing on the Bellinger River to spot sea eagles, azure kingfishers, flooded gums and dairy cow river crossings, or drive the loop around the Promised Land and dip your toes in Never Never Creek.

Visit the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre for escarpment vistas of the Gondwana rainforest, or hike into the world heritage-listed rainforest on the two-hour Wonga Walk.

Walk the Urunga boardwalk along the river estuary to the spectacular Hungry Head ocean beach.

Almost halfway between Sydney (5.5 hours drive north) and Brisbane (five hours drive south); Bellingen is around 30 minutes drive south-west from Coffs Harbour airport. While there is some public transport available in the area, having a car is strongly recommended.

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A visitor's guide to Bellingen: 'Im surprised how straight its become people wear clothes now' - The Guardian