Development Update August 2011
The development of the Eastward Missionary Property continues as we move toward being able to live on the property.
Recent projects include:
- The disassembly, transport from Sydney and re-erection of a 7m x 7m temporary dwelling. Completion of the internal fit out will be achieved in a week or two, and by then we hope to have the final council approvals to move into it.
- Completion of a functional workshop.
- A solar pump called a Sun Mill has also been installed and commissioned. We expect to order the irrigation line that will join the Sun Mill to tanks and dwellings in the next few weeks and this will then be our next project - to install the irrigation line in the ground and join it all up.
- We have also had a sewerage system called a Reed Bed installed, and are waiting to have the septic tanks installed before we can commissioned it and have it functional. This we also expect to be only a few weeks away.
So we are very close to being able to inhabit the property! Once we gain this foothold there, we will be far more efficient because we will be out there all the time.
Our next big project is the relocation of a 'shed house' which has been donated to us. This requires a cement slab to be laid down, and then the erection of the building on the slab. We plan to move this to the property in late September.
CURRENT NEEDS:
- Slab $20k
- Tractor and Slasher $8-15k
- Trench Digger (Buy or Hire)
- Solar power systems for houses being built $15-30k each
- Sewerage System costs for each house $10-15k
- Forage Harvester ??
- Welder/Tig $100-1000
Alex Murchison (Development Committee)
Development Update February 2011
Since our last road update in July 2010, Eastward Missionary College has come a long way. The roads have now been completed with a final length of over 4kms. The finishing touch was the final surfacing of the road with blue metal, which makes it much more traversable in the wet, and reduces the amount of dust created by vehicles travelling along it.
An estimation by the road builders on the commercial value of the job, if all road base materials had been trucked in and the machinery and labour had been charged at normal rates, was around one million dollars. We were blessed to have had suitable road base material on site and through the use of the machinery that was so generously donated hire free to us, we were able to extract this material and build the roads with it.
The recent heavy rain did unfortunately cause some damage to the road, but we are working on remedying those issues. In fact it has been a blessing to see where the water has caused damage before we get any really severe rainfall. This way we can we can fix it and be better prepared when those extremes of weather do come.
While we had the professional road builders on site, we decided to utilise their skills and the machinery, to create seven new building sites. Two of these were major works involving the sites for both the college and health retreat. This was in preparation for the next stage of our development plan - building!
As the new student year begins for 2011, we plan to start our building program. This will begin with an Ablutions block, and will also include the Manager's residence and a Rural Worker's Dwelling. We also plan to add more shed space through the addition of another, similar shed to the one currently standing.
Big plans, yes, but God is bigger! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to move forward in faith, and even better, come and visit and see for yourself!
Alex Murchison (Development Committee)
Rolland's Plains Campus
On the 17th January 2007, 273 acres of vacant rural land was purchased to develop the home of Eastward Missionary College.
Development will be ongoing as single & married student accommodation, staff accommodation, classrooms, workshops, offices, agriculture infrastructure, kitchen & dining room, chapel, health retreat, etc are built.
This is a faith project - without God's clear direction to establish a rural training college we would never be contemplating such a project with no money in our hands! But we go forward in faith, trusting that He will keep His promises, and that He will raise up this institution for the training of some of the youth who will finish His Work!
Eastward "Features"
Water
6 gullies cross the property diagonally feeding 8 dams, and ultimately filling the dam shown above. This dam (~50 megalitres) and another (~24 megalitres) provide irrigation for agriculture and grounds. We also have a 56ML irrigation license from the adjacent Wilson River! With careful use that should be sufficient for our needs!
Privacy and seclusion
A narrow frontage on a quiet country road, a hill that obscures most of the property from view from the road, State Forest on the south, and neighbouring large farms give the college great privacy.
Locality
Near enough to population centres of Port Macquarie, Wauchope and Kempsey for Outpost to City Mission evangelism and witnessing, yet far enough away to escape their influences. There are 6 SDA churches within 1 hour's drive!
Aspect
The property generally faces north, providing good exposure to the sun for hygienic living and good growing conditions.
Layout
Gentle undulations and gullies provide good sites for buildings and allow student and staff accommodation to be built on sites that provide privacy. Approximately 2/3 is cleared, providing space for all development without clearing.
Services
Power (2&3 phase) and telephone are on the front boundary (will need to be extended at some cost!)
Climate
The Port Macquarie region of NSW is hailed as one of the most "liveable" and temperate climates in the world.
Agriculture
Though there are always struggles with pests and diseases (they like the mild climate too!), a wide range of crops can be grown here - we are even blessed with some frost free areas at the rear of the property for subtropical crops! An existing small mixed orchard is in for some expansion!