Leonie Vallance
Developer, Caral EcoVillage

Role
The idea of a world-class sustainable development for Hervey Bay, Australia, was first creatively conceived by local resident Leonie Vallance five years ago. Today, the EcoVillage has a magnificent coastal site, and progresses successfully through rigorous planning and design stages prior to construction, due to the unflagging commitment and vision of Leonie.

Leonie supervises, directs and is in charge of all aspects of the development. She leads the specialist Caral Development Team, and guides each step in the journey to ensure the successful construction of Caral.

Expertise
Leonie has over 25 years of management experience in a variety of settings, including staff leadership and training, office management and franchise management.
She has worked in most aspects of commercial real estate, including marketing, management, sales and leasing, and her abiding interest in property in general has seen her successfully complete a number of small developments to date.

Leonie has a passionate ideological commitment to sustainability, and to creating in her local community a living example of what is technologically and socially achievable when social and environmental needs are prioritized over the current conventional development paradigms, which are responsible for so many of our social ills and environmental degradation.

John Mongard

Role
John Mongards' role is to masterplan Caral Ecovillage into a sustainable place to work, live and play. His experience in designing ecovillages and coordinating community consultation will ensure a unique and successful outcome for Caral, while retaining the local fishing village character.
John Mongard Landscape Architects specialise in creating new and highly sustainable living places. Many awards have recognised JMLA’s unique skills in developing a more sociable and energy efficient future.

Our projects begin with the fundamentals of a site – its soil, sun, water and ecology. We design places which retain the special qualities of a locality and its people. This is done through our unique ‘Set-Up Shop’ process, a community design process which allows people and sites to combine in new and creative ways. We plan for energy and waste neutral processes of
development and construction, with a strong focus on water sensitive urban design, use of endemic flora and the creation of green corridors and waterways throughout new communities.

JMLA have designed award winning garden and housing projects throughout Australia, from single homes up to districts for over 50, 000 people. We are at the forefront of Australia’s push to reduce our ecological footprint through design processes.

Major recent awards include The Australia Council Award for Environmental Design, The RAPI National Urban Design Award and the AILA Qld Award of Excellence.

Dan Raymond
Eco Urban Pty Ltd

Role
Dan's role is to conceptualise, design and project manage the construction of the creative and unique infrastructure systems that will ensure 100% sustainability of the EcoVillage’s water supply, electrical power, communications, waste handling and irrigation systems.
"Future-proofing" the design will enable Caral to upgrade its infrastructure as more efficient sustainable technologies evolve, maintaining Caral’s position at the forefront of sustainable development world-wide.

Expertise
Dan has an unwavering commitment to ensuring the principles and practice of sustainability become our everyday reality, and currently works as EcoUrban Pty Ltd, at the cutting edge of sustainable development.

He brings to the leadership of EcoUrban 34 years experience in civil engineering, the environmental disciplines and project management. He has acknowledged specialist expertise in Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD), sustainable infrastructure planning and design, Environmental Management and the Environmental Impact Analysis of development projects.
Qualified additionally as a trainer, facilitator, and journalist, Dan is extensively experienced in successful team leadership, facilitation, public consultation, government liaison and policy development, and is a specialist in Risk Analysis and Risk Management.

Recent EcoUrban projects include the award-winning “Sunrise at 1770” Australia’s first fully self-sustaining residential development, and extensive work assisting Waterfresh Pty ltd developing and designing applications for their unique and world-first sustainable water sterilization technology.

Biography
Andrew is a director of Humphrey Reynolds Perkins Gold Coast, with over 25 years experience in Queensland's Planning and Development Industry, including both public sector management roles and director of his own planning consultancy before merging that successful business with Humphreys Reynolds Perkins to establish the Gold Coast office in March 2001.

As Manager of “Urban Design” and “Development and Environment” with the Gold Coast City Council, Andrew was responsible for delivering a number of major policy documents, including the 1994 Gold Coast Planning Scheme, the Guragunbah Floodplain Structure Plan, the Bushfire Management Strategy and the Northern Wastewater Strategy, all of which received State and/or National Planning Institute Awards.

In private practice, Andrew has overseen a wide range of development applications that include major mixed use developments and complex master planned communities. He has a strong interest and sound record in facilitating ecologically sustainable development solutions, including The Ecovillage at Currumbin, winner of the Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence: Asia Pacific.

Andrew is a very well respected planning consultant with a wealth of knowledge relating to planning and environmental issues. He is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and former President of the Gold Coast Branch.