Home

The middle classes have been eroded by the flood waters of rabid capitalism.
Land ownership, Food and Shelter security is all but out of reach
To the average hard working person Our ways of life
Are now in question at every level.
What is Home?

BLSP stands for Bare Land Strata Proposal*. Created in Australia to allow groups of people to own their own apartments on a parcel of land managed in common. Alberta and British Columbia are the only two provinces to adopt this private/public land ownership structure in Canada. Most apartments and condominiums operate under such a structure. Bare Land Strata title allows these private units to enlarge into defined parcels of land within a larger publicly managed land mass.

Imagine Living in a community designed with the intention of all members living without a long-term debt structure. A community that includes affordable housing options so our senior’s can age positively and single parent’s and their children can feel included in all aspects of vibrant community life.

This is out of reach for most citizen’s now days. More and more groups of people are forming together to co-purchase a piece land that allows private ownership and public land management. Without entering a long-term debt structure each individual and family is allowed to enter the new slow economy, work a shorter work-week, work seasonally and choose meaningful work that is part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Imagine land ownership that is more stewardship and re-learning how to live with respect to all relationships. We develop and engage in an active Communication plan that recognizes oppressive communication patterns and helps us learn more compassionate communication patterns.

Imagine First Nations approval to the way we relate to the land and how we relate to each other. We recognize their right to their land, support their treaty process and help empower their youth to build healthy natural homes and food security.

Imagine a regenerative agricultural system that mimics nature, preserves the top-soil and passively irrigates itself. We engage in the new restoration agriculture shift from annual to perennial crop emphasis and passive water catchment systems.

Imagine our homes combining traditional, natural and energy efficient technologies with materials from the surface of the Earth that come from within the watershed of the community. We design, engineer and build our own modest, healthy, and energy efficient homes from as many local materials as possible, with a focus on educating our youth and calculating our carbon footprint to demonstrate a carbon negative community. Our farming and building practices will engage with all levels of government to demonstrate how carbon negative tax credits can influence community development.

Imagine all of this along the edge of an Old-Growth Forest that is part of an interactive eco-tourism map of the greater community carbon sink plan to design our communities with bicycle, pedestrian and wildlife corridors that connect us with meaningful employment in our value-added forest and farm sectors. We ally with our regional and provincial governments to further develop and strengthen our local and provincial Energy Descent Action Plans.

Imagine an affordable community design template that allows other groups to form other low-debt, affordable carbon neutral and negative initiatives in the CVRD and beyond. We develop the BLSP to allow others to take its framework and use it to facilitate other similar proposals.

Affordable housing solutions to all communities in need of more food and shelter security.

*BLSP – Cowichan has now evolved into the Cowichan Sustainable Living Association (CSLA). We are now registered with the province of British Columbia as an incorporated NFP Society. This is our first legal step allowing us to legally form together to open a Credit Union account (no banks for us) and purchase land as a group to enter into Bare Land Strata Title for both private and public ownership responsibilities.