The application  was then lodged with  Council in January 1986 and approved by them in April, followed by some seven months of negotiations to meet the sometimes exacting Council requirements.

During this period of waiting, preliminary work was done on site to establish the position of lots, roads, dams etc.

The design was to be an example of sustainable development in a rural environment, providing:

• clean water, air and food
• work and recreation possibilities
• an infrastructure which allowed for free spiritual expression and social interaction
• an environment where people could live harmoniously with nature, caring for the native flora and fauna

These were to be all in close proximity to each other, providing neighbourly security to the residents and reducing the need for travel by car to between different human needs.

The criteria for positioning all items in the development were met by the method of exclusion. Such information as slope of land, amount of standing forest, agricultural land, proximity of natural water courses and wet areas, aspect to North, were each plotted on a transparency and then overlaid on a map.

The resultant areas not excluded became the residential lot cluster areas. The lots were then plotted on the drawing, followed by fitting on site using the other criteria that needed to be met. Roads were then positioned and service trenching lines fitted between roads and lots.

The method of installation of services was unique to Queensland at that time. We had already decided on underground mains electricity to the distribution points, and we had planned reticulated water pumped from the two adjacent creeks to be available to every lot for both non-potable use and firefighting.

After detailed negotiations with SEQEB (Energex), Telecom (Telstra)  and the water supply contractor, we managed to get agreement on common trenching for all services which gave us a substantial cost saving.

Our roads are all bitumen sealed for low maintenance, without kerb and guttering which we considered an unnecessary luxury.

There are fifteen dams with multiple uses such as provision of access by roads across their walls, climate control, aspect improvement and recreational uses. We do not use the water from the dams because as soon as you do the level falls and many of the uses are no longer available. They could be used during drought conditions in an emergency however, we got through the longest drought in the State’s history without such use.

The site works were completed in 1988 to the satisfaction of the Council who then sealed the plans, enabling registration of them with the State Office and sale of the lots to prospective residents.