Modest Lifestyle in Seddon

Hi, all
You could think of me as a latecomer in the US hippie migration of the 60s. I'm 67, retired, and have thought about coming to NZ for decades. They only let me in cause I hold an Ozzie passport
I just contracted to buy a 100 yr old house and 3/4 acre in Seddon, Marlborough. Small. But it has been a lifestyle place for many decades. 42 mature fruit trees, plus grapes and boysenberries. Shredding galore, including a little sheep shed. Greenhouse. And in town so I can walk to the grocery, and public transport is available to Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch and beyond.

Welcome, what an awesome little house, looks like you will be set for your retirement

Hello and welcome!

Looks like a character filled home and a nice piece of land to try all sorts of ideas
All the best!

That does look like a little piece of heaven, in a great part of the country, too. Do you plan to run any animals, or just live off those 42 fruit trees? Welcome to the site, and to NZ.

All in favor of animals, but haven't decided what sort. I'd love to keep a milk goat, but it may take some figuring to prevent a goat from destroying the trees. Alt, could do a few sheepies. I've never had sheep, but I'm sure there are plenty of neighbors with experience. Or perhaps pigs to eat the fruit I can't process . . . I haven't yet figured out how touchy Kiwis are about keeping pigs in town; I reckon, get to know the neighbors first. .

Hi sandgrubber,

Some councils have bylaws regarding the keeping of pigs, often regarding things such as the zoning of the land, the number of pigs that can be kept and distance between a pig sty and a house or the boundary with the neighbour, etc (CAFO type operations have given pig-keeping a bad name...).

An issue that you may run into with homekill, if you want to do that with your livestock, is that some councils have bylaws that prohibit the slaughter of stock for human consumption in certain land zones (eg residential) except at a licensed abattoir. Whilst it might be quite safe for a captive bolt stunner to be used in your back yard (no projectile hazard), "townies" probably won't appreciate the spectacle.

Cheers

.... but because there are no "townies" living in Seddon you should be OK with keeping what you want . Seddon is a cluster of country households living in a small area .
You may have problems with how much water that you are permitted to use in mid and late summer. When water restrictions come on, it is really easy to see who is stealing water. But it is remotely possible that Seddon never has water restrictions, so something to ask the neighbours about.

One possible solution to water restrictions in dry summers is to put in a big rainwater tank, plumb your house's guttering into it, and use a small pump to provide irrigation water (when town supply water restrictions are in force). A big rainwater tank will also reduce the loading that your house places on the council storm water system since you will be capturing rainwater instead of sending it down the drain

A building consent is not required to install a water tank of up to 35,000 L capacity, provided that said tank rests on the ground - see page 69:
www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/proj...ance-3rd-edition.pdf

Spark, thats really interesting re no building consents but perhaps you require planning consent?
Auckland City does not permit the instillation of water tanks I think over 50 litres, because I understand they also own Watercare the provider of water to most homes. So if you want to install a tank to water your garden, you need to apply to council!
This is public policy gone awry in my mind.
Interestingly I think new houses are now required in Auckland City to instal water tanks to ease the storm water situation. I know in Hobsonville, west auckland which has a high water table, all the units have water tanks installed under their houses - the sites are too small to take above ground water tanks

muri wrote: Spark, thats really interesting re no building consents but perhaps you require planning consent?
Auckland City does not permit the instillation of water tanks I think over 50 litres, because I understand they also own Watercare the provider of water to most homes. So if you want to install a tank to water your garden, you need to apply to council!
This is public policy gone awry in my mind.
Interestingly I think new houses are now required in Auckland City to instal water tanks to ease the storm water situation. I know in Hobsonville, west auckland which has a high water table, all the units have water tanks installed under their houses - the sites are too small to take above ground water tanks

Whilst central government has decreed an exemption from a building permit, you are still obliged to follow your council's district plan...
In the case of Auckland, I suspect that the restriction on water tanks over 50L is to do with "aesthetics" - townies who have just dropped $1M on a handkerchief with a house on it (cheek by jowl?) don't want the view out of their window mostly filled by the side of the neighbour's water tank.

Regarding rainwater tanks under new homes in Hobsonville, are the residents allowed to actually use the rain water that they capture, or does the council require them to slowly send it down the drain?

If residents are forced to drain their rain water (and are banned from using it, even if they put in treatment equipment appropriate for the intended use of the water), then I would be very suspicious about the council, water company and conflict of interest...

I think they's be happy to charge the resident a water rate assessed on the size of the tank and the probable rainfall. I know watercare services charge for water from new bores, on the assumption they own the water right. Personally I think that an absolute cheek if the water is within your own boundary.

It appears that Watercare only want to charge for rain or bore water that is likely to go down their sewer after you have used it:
www.watercare.co.nz/common-content/water...20water%20meter.aspx

Presumably their wastewater only tariff is cheaper than their metered town supply + wastewater tariff?

As far as charging per volume taken from a bore, I understand the need for regulation (aquifers are shared resources and all that) but I was under the impression that it is basically a rubber stamping exercise to get resource consent to take up to 2000 L/day from a bore for domestic purposes and or drinking water for livestock (deemed to be a permitted activity in the RMA or something like that). Some large (read commercial, industrial and irrigation) bores are fitted with water meters - usually to make sure that the bore owners stay within the terms of their resource consents...

great shots of the house, Seddon is in the middle of vineyards now and is becoming trendy after aeons of poverty stricken sheep farming!
I bet the rates are quite high as Seddon has water supply issues and new sources are being explored. The council website seems to encourage water tanks,- 'Collect rainwater from the roof for garden use by intercepting the downpipe (spouting) flows and storing in a tank, preferably filtered first. If a ground-supported outdoor water tank has capacity over 25,000 litres you will need to use a registered plumber and get a Building Consent, and similarly if the base is more than 2 metres above the ground and it exceeds 2,000 litres capacity. If it is over 2.5 metres in height and over 5,000 litres capacity it will be noticeable by neighbours and you might also need a Resource Consent –. The trick would be to use several smaller tanks then you can do it yourself. I can't imagine you will have any trouble with the neighbours.
It is quite common to have the odd sheep to keep the grass down, but goats have a habit of escaping and then you are in trouble with the neighbours.
You are lucky to be living almost within walking distance of our best winery, Yealands Estate
Good luck and Kia Ora mate!

You mentioned a goat for milking. Nowadays you can get milk sheep...might they prove a better alternative? Easy to find someone who will let you put them in with their ram for a few weeks, less challenge to fencing, and lovely lamb for the table. According to a friend of mine who has them, you'll need at least a couple, as you have to share milk with their youngsters. They usually have several, he says.

Great idea! I've heard of sheep's milk cheese, but never of sheep bred for milking. I'll have to google it . . . do you have any suggestions about where in NZ one can find such sheep?

Some trivia on the topic of building codes and water tanks: in much of rural California, you MUST have 10,000 gallons (~37,500 l) of tank water (generally from a bore) to get a building permit. That's so the fire tankers can fill up if you property has to be defended.