Patanga: an intentional community

About us

We are an eclectic bunch who banded together to invigorate the notion of community.

We came from disparate paths to share common land and to rejoice in our diversity.

One of the many strengths of our community is a shared recognition of the importance of difference.

We recognise and value the spiritual dimension in relationships between individuals and the group, and appreciate how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

We love the land on which we live. We care and respect its flora and fauna. We strive to live in balance with this land, as caretakers.

We strive to live in harmony with each other. We enjoy a socially and environmentally caring lifestyle, based on maximum personal responsibility and freedom. Community participation is always encouraged, with provision for individual privacy. In our community, we aspire to love and understand each other and provide an atmosphere for emotional support and positive growth.

Our community unfolds organically without rigid expectation, with emphasis on day-to-day living together and accepting each others' differences as contributing to the strength of the community as a whole.

The practical aspects of these ideals require individual commitment to maintaining the farm, the land and caring for each other.

In 2003, Julie McCrossin, as part of a series entitled Life Matters - Re-imagining Utopia, interviewed some residents of Patanga for ABC Radio National. The particular program was called 'Reimagining Uptopia part 5 - alternative economics'. The residents talk about what it was like when the community was first set up and what problems were experienced in trying to make a living on the community. The text of the interview can be found here.