Green pair loves new environment

Adam Young, Nicky Hammond and Lyn Bollen prepare for Saturday’s garage sale.

Mike Garry

WHEN Adam Young and wife Nicky searched online for a “green” street to build their dream home, one address kept popping up: Spoonbill Street, Peregian Beach.

Adam and Nicky, whose company Wagtail Homes specialises in designing and building environmentally sustainable homes, saw many articles touting the address as the greenest street in Queensland.

“We were just searching on the internet, originally using ‘sustainability’, ‘environmental awareness’, ‘community’ – keywords like that – and Spoonbill Street kept coming up as a showcase of sustainability on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

“The community nature of the street appealed to us.

“Sustainability to us isn’t just about recycling and putting solar power on. It’s about developing a healthy relationship with your environment, and that includes your neighbours and the people around you.”

Adam said the north-facing block was perfectly positioned.

“You can walk to the beach. You can walk to the shops, so you’re really reducing your reliance on cars,” he said.

“We were looking for a block so that we could build a home to showcase our concept of sustainability. It was serendipity. There was a block available at the time.”

The couple grew up in Sydney but for the past couple of years has been living in Seoul in South Korea while Nicky finished her masters degree.

They started building their home at the start of the year and moved in last Saturday.

So, does Spoonbill Street fit the bill?

Adam said the street lived up to the hype. The neighbours have been very welcoming, waving and chatting and checking on their progress.

“From the day we moved in we’ve had offers of dinner and assistance,” he said “It’s a fantastic neighbourhood.”

Adam and Nicky’s first street community activity will be on Saturday from 7am at the Spoonbill Street community garage sale.

Long-time Spoonbillian Lyn Bollen said 10 households were participating in this year’s sale, selling a wide range of goods.

“It aims to support a community approach to sustainability by encouraging residents to move on any unwanted household items, rather than disposing into landfill,” she said.

“Sustainability to us isn’t just about recycling and putting solar power on. It’s about developing a healthy relationship with your environment, and that includes your neighbours and the people around you.” Adam Young