NEW OLD WAYS
Book, blog, and launch, 2023
Primary Goal
184 page book published
Blueprint for the Byron Shire
Content
Framework, case studies, Interviews, blog, newsletter
Launch Event
400 Guests, Panel of speakers, engaged audience
Byron Shire had been through the wringer with fires, floods and big changes in the community and culture. Everyone had been impacted by one or more of these things and there was a collective sense that something needed to happen.
People were scared of high-rise developments invading from the north, or cookie-cutter subdivisions creeping up from the south, and McMansions dropping in from the big cities, pushing the community out and leaving the Shire a shell of its former glory.
And that fear was rational, because it'll happen unless people get together as a community and have a plan for a different path.
Instead of focusing on the negative, Creative Capital felt like it was time to create a beautiful blueprint for a sustainable Byron Shire, so people could rally around it, which ended up becoming New Old Ways, a 184-page book and website.
Image: Lisa Sorgini
“Instead of focusing on the negative, Creative Capital felt like it was time to create a beautiful blueprint for a sustainable Byron Shire.”
Image: Ruth Williams-Martin
What started out as a 10-page PowerPoint presentation, ended up becoming a 183-page book called New Old Ways.
Based on 10 principles that Creative Capital's Fraser Williams-Martin has gleaned throughout his career in architecture and development, the goal of New Old Ways (NOW) is to inspire people to look after Country, build stronger community, design better developments, and keep the Byron Shire wonderfully weird.
Image: Rowena Naylor
"I love this area," says Fraser. "So, it’d be awful to look around in 10 years and think the inevitable happened. This book is my small attempt at changing the future." With over 400 locals turning up on a stormy evening for the launch, it was obvious he wasn't alone.
And the launch of the book was just the beginning. NOW has a website too, and the mission is to build a community of likeminded people, because we know resilience is about connection and collaboration.
Img: Glen Berlin
