The Mistletoe Bay eco-village board and trustees have four new reasons to celebrate going into the new year, including a $210,000 grant to build a "breakout room".
Mistletoe Bay Trust chairman Simon Heath said the eco-village, at the head of Onahau Bay in the Marlborough Sounds, received the grant from the Canterbury Community Trust to go towards a new building on the site.
The room will allow groups to do activities or hold meetings away from the kitchen building, which is used as a dining room and meeting room.
Mr Heath said the new room, part of a larger upgrade of the site, would be completed within the next 12 months.
He said the trust needed about $1 million to complete stage two of the upgrade, which would include a new kitchen, a drying room, a storage area and an office.
A new floating pontoon jetty and mooring had been donated to the cause.
The jetty would allow easier access for people getting on and off boats, and would be installed in January, he said.
Bohally Intermediate teacher Jonathan Collier has also been appointed the new marketing and programme director for Mistletoe Bay.
Mr Heath said the new additions to the eco-village gave the project some momentum.
The Mistletoe Bay Trust took over the land from the Department of Conservation in 2004, with the aim of setting up a programme to teach visitors how to live sustainably in a coastal region.
Since then, it has raised funds and used donated materials and labour to start building the eco-village.
In 2006, a group from the army built four cabins with passive and solar heating and a carbon-neutral fireplace with a wetback. Wastewater is treated and recycled to the toilet cisterns.
Mistletoe Bay hosts large groups, conference parties, corporate training and school camps, and also has a campground with more than 100 sites.
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