Strategy & Waterwheel Blueprint ›
Five pillars, two phases, one wheel.
Adopted by the membership. The full document lives in the volunteer library; this is the public-facing summary.
Where this came from
A strategy written in member meetings, not in a boardroom.
This strategy was drafted in member meetings and working-group sessions, then ratified by the membership. It has since been revised to add the Living Nature programme as a sub-pillar of Environment.
It is deliberately short. The five pillars are stated below — every working group reports up to one of them. The blueprint that follows is what we are doing about it.
Compiled by the strategy working group and ratified by the membership.
The five pillars
Everything we do answers to one of these.
Adopted by the membership. Each pillar maps to a working group; each working group reports up to one pillar.
01
Tourism & visitor welcome
One door, one map, one familiar voice. Information that’s actually current, from people who live here.
Pillar 01
02
Artisans & makers
A working shopfront for local makers — fair margins, plain pricing, no exclusivity clauses, ever.
Pillar 02
03
Heritage & story
The wheel, the river, the township — recorded honestly, including the parts that are uncomfortable.
Pillar 03
04
Environment & place
Living-nature programmes, sustainability targets, and Landcare partnerships up and down the valley.
Pillar 04
05
Community & gathering
The reason any of the others matter. Markets, screenings, working bees, a door that’s always open.
Pillar 05
The blueprint
Useful, then durable.
The committee reviews progress against each phase.
Make it useful.
Get the doors open seven days, the wheel turning, the makers stocked, and the volunteer roster on a stable rhythm. The version of the Waterwheel that feels like a working, dependable place.
Make it durable.
Build systems that hold, so the work is shared and nobody carries the desk alone. Roster software, an induction kit, working groups and sustainability targets.
Outcome: the activation team and sub-committees can run a session any time to contribute.
The full document
Read the Waterwheel Blueprint, page by page.
Fifteen pages of the strategy in full — use the arrows to paginate through, or download the PDF below.
Four ways in ›
Stand a little closer to the wheel.
Build your own plan, visit on a weekend, become a member, or stand a shift.