It takes vision to see the potential for a high-quality residential subdivision in a goat farm, but vision is something Leo Nelis has plenty of.
An architect, he moved to New Zealand from Holland around 20 years ago, and was exploring the north when he came across Matakana. He found the goat farm, and knew he could do something with it.
"I had to do something," he said. "I'd worked as an architect and furniture designer in Italy and Germany, and thought, 'What am I going to do here?' This was a possibility."
Initially, Leo planned to subdivide the property into five country living lots, but subsequent zoning changes that rezoned the land residential allowed him to rethink its potential.
The vision expanded into the creation of an eco-friendly community with sustainable homes on each site. Environmental considerations would be landscaping, building design and construction, power generation, water usage and disposal, and amenities.
The development is now aptly named Matakana Green, and Leo has turned it into a high-quality residential subdivision where all homes are required to achieve a minimum Homestar rating of seven. Homestar is a rating process developed by the Building Research Association of New Zealand and the New Zealand Green Building Council to improve the performance of New Zealand homes.
Leo is committed to quality houses. "At the moment I live in a house just because it's on site and it has no quality to it at all," he says. "It's very cold and damp. In Holland, people are set up for the cold but no so much here. We were invited out to dinner here once and the house was so cold we sat at the table with our coats on. Nobody seemed to think that was unusual."
He is determined to see Matakana Green become an example of what is possible in design, sustainability and liveability. Sustainability features will include grid-connected solar power generation systems, double glazing, natural insulation, passive solar architecture and ground-source heat pumps.
The lot sizes will vary from around 800sq m to 1400sq m, with all of the sections north-facing to maximise sun exposure. Building will be governed by a number of environmental covenants to ensure the integrity of the development is maintained.
He imagines Matakana Green will attract people who want to live in the area and enjoy the local scene, and who want to consider the environment in their lifestyle decisions.
Image 1 of 3: A new eco-friendly community has been dreamed up by a Dutch architect
"What I envisage is a community where people have contact with each other, feel safe and enjoy living here."
He says one of the most attractive features of the subdivision is the 1.7ha stand of native bush that runs along the river. A walkway is part of the development design, as well as a community green where there will be barbecues and a playground.
The development is only about 800m from Matakana Village, famous for its farmers market, cafes, art gallery and boutique cinemas.
