The final stage of construction of the Bendigo Bank Community Pavilion has begun in the Cooroy Community Gardens, and Permaculture Noosa is inviting you to join in – all feet and hands welcome.
The walls of the pavilion are being made from cob, a natural building material of clay, aggregate and straw. The clay has been sourced on-site with the help of Ben and his excavator from BBC Hire in Tewantin, crusher dust/aggregate from Cooroy Landscape Supplies, and straw from Sauers Produce and Garden Centre.
The walls will be completed over a series of cob workshops open to the public, hosted by experts in the field of natural building.
Lunches have been donated by Cooroy Seasons IGA, and locals began stomping their feet two weeks ago and will continue for at least a month.
The pavilion has been a three-year project with a clear vision from Eumundi architect Brett Grimley of Ecolibrium Designs, supported by the building expertise of Paul Stanke of Maxbuild. The build is of extraordinary quality, and includes locally-sourced ironbark and locally-made steel fittings.
Permaculture Noosa must be congratulated for sticking with the project through the Covid years and spiralling building costs.
In 2021 the members decided to invest the $115,000 they had in the bank (including $35,000 from the Community Gambling Fund and $25,000 from a Noosa Council Community and Environment Project grant) to lay the slab and purchase the timber and roofing. The project was underway though the future was uncertain. It sometimes seemed building costs were going up faster than the money was coming in.
The fundraising team, led by Sandra Guy, has spent two years tirelessly gathering funds to complete the project, including barbecues at the Pomona Markets, raffles, plant and local honey sales, club dinners, movie nights, book sales, open gardens, worm farm workshops, Go Fund Me Page and more. A number of local businesses and philanthropists have also come on board with donations, including Countryside Noosa Reality, Frame Tree Custom Framing, Cooroy RSL, and the Walker Foundation.
Bendigo Bank Cooroy came to the rescue with an extremely generous $50,000 donation, but the project still needs community support for plumbing, electricity and a myriad of other details still to come.
Local teams have come on board to help, including legendary electrician Bruce Forsyth, donating enormous amounts of time and expertise. This is a story of sharing a vision for the future and the community getting the job done. And the end is in sight.
The next big job will be rendering the cob walls, with the help of Yandina’s RockCote, and fitting out the rooms. A refrigerator, stove and kitchen tables were purchased two years ago through a Volunteering Queensland grant. Following on from this, the club will be preparing the Gardens for the grand opening event to be held in June. Watch this space.
Please consider joining Permaculture Noosa, donating to the pavilion project, or signing up for one of our cob workshops to see how passionate we are about earth care, people care and fair share. Help us change the world, one small step (or stomp) at a time. Visit permaculturenoosa.com.au or email info@permaculturenoosa.com.au for more information. Next cob classes are 24 and 25 March and then 21 and 22 April.
