Mandy Nolan

Mandy Nolan is a nationally celebrated comedian, teacher, painter and author of three books.

"The neighbours are lovely. It’s a village life that we all crave - that sense of connection. Like Mullumbimby, Tallowood reflects a cross section of people. The community I wanted to live in is what Mullum has evolved into. The great assurance with Mullumbimby is that it will never become a tourist town. We are very lucky.”

“Because we have a family of five kids we had specific requirements. I love Mullum, it’s the community that I moved to the North Coast for. Byron becomes a very tourist oriented town, whereas Mullum has a more community feel. It’s a very engaged vital community and I wanted my kids to grow up with this. There is so much access to entertainment – ukulele nights, comedy nights, the Mullum Music Festival... And there are great schools here. We came to Tallowood Ridge and fell in love with the land and whole concept straight away, there was just nothing else comparable. We could build a house to our own specifications and have the view to Mount Warning and Mount Chincogan. My little girl Ivy always refers to it as Ivy’s mountain.

Beryl and Peter Judd

Retired couple Beryl and Peter Judd relocated from Dorrigo, where they were active in the seed savers and gardening communities.

“The residents here have a common interest in gardening, so this is a good starting point to build community, to give Tallowood Ridge a strong heart” said Beryl. “We all have an interest in feeding ourselves and looking after future generations. We can share our knowledge, seeds and produce with each other. The food forest is in a lovely area near the tree house where the kids play. And there’s a seat, so everybody sits and talks. It’s a wonderful meeting place.

There are about a dozen households involved at the moment, but more are interested. Of course out of all the residents here there will be those that take it up and run with it and those that don’t. We have found that Mullumbimby residents in general are into gardening. That’s clear from the roll up at the Living Earth Festival”.

Andrew Wadsworth

Andrew Wadsworth purchased land at Tallowood Ridge in 2012, when he moved to Mullumbimby with his young family from Perth. He runs a home based IT company.

“There is a strong community spirit in Tallowood that can be seen with the many kids playing together in the street and friendly waves and chats as we go for walks along the ridge and down to the sport fields. Some community members have started using shared public spaces to grow food which is really good to see. The protection of the large trees along the ridge and replanting of natives along the creek has been integral to why we love where we live”.