Promoting Peace through cooperative and sustainable living

 The community had its beginnings in 1941 when a group of Christian Pacifists agreed to adopt a way of life based on co-operation. They wanted to demonstrate that this was a practical alternative to the competitive ways of normal society which are a major contributor to wars. One of the group contributed 30 acres of farmland and orchard, in the Lower Moutere Valley, and some of them moved there to live. Several of the founding members were conscientious objectors to the compulsory military scheme during the Second World War. These men spent the war years on a prison farm in the Taranaki region while their wives and children moved to the small farm in Lower Moutere.

Later, after the war, the newly formed Religious Charitable Riverside Community Trust (RCT) was foundered and, over time, new land was purchased and the hilly scrub land cleared and cultivated.

Community life and living

Today Riverside consists of 208 hectares of both flat and rolling hill land, with our main income coming from our dairy farm. We manage a growing number of secondary businesses including a café, centre, garage, pear orchard, organic gardens and shop. Income is shared and distributed depending on family size rather than occupation. Riverside assets are owned by the Trust and there is no private ownership of houses or cars. The community's general fund helps to meet basic needs such as health care, dental care, electricity and phone while other needs are subsidised like education and travel costs.

 We eat our own beef, mutton and milk comes daily from our dairy farm. We also have an organic vegetable garden    and orchard which provides produce for members as well as for the café and shop.

Community families live in self-contained homes and children attend local schools or choose to home educate. At present we share one meal together on a Wednesday afternoon and the general public are warmly invited to share this with us . We currently have 20 adult members and 10 children living here permanently aged from new born to founding members. We also support a limited number of tenants, visitors and volunteer workers which can sometimes swell our numbers to 80! We celebrate three seasonal festivals a year; Spring Festival, Harvest festival and Winter Solstice along with Easter, Christmas and our own Founders Day. We also celebrate Matariki, International Conscientious Objectors day and commemorate Parihaka Peace Day.

Peace focus:

All members are responsible for the management of the community and assets and decisions are made by consensus by a weekly meeting. We have a strong commitment to environmental and sustainability issues as well as to social justice both locally and internationally. Every year we allocate funds to support other organisations with programmes aimed at the eradication of poverty and suffering. We see our way of life as our main contribution to peace making. We have come a long way from our original religious focus and yet see our strength in our adherence to the founders basic principles; “If a group of individuals pool their resources, cooperate and live simply, they can create a resource and surplus income to be used for the greater good of society”. 

New members welcome to apply

Prospective members interested in joining should first visit informally; hostel or camping  accommodation is usually available out of the harvest season. The next step is to write giving some background information about yourself and ask to make a formal two-week visit. During this visit you will stay in self-contained facilities, be invited to meals in members' homes and share in work and other activities.

After an interval for reflection, you may wish to write applying for probationary membership. This trial period is for up to two years, during which any private assets you have are frozen and you will live on the same basis as all other members. Members are expected to contribute with regards to their ability and,  in principal, can be accepted regardless of their ability. However, we do not accept everyone. At the moment we are loking for prospective members with farmimg experience in particular .

If you are interested in learning more about membership, don't hestitate to contact us with your questions. Prospective members must be New Zealand residents.

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