Community
28 November, 2024
Plan earns tick of approval
A PROPOSAL to develop a 60-70-unit retirement village in Terang, as part of ongoing efforts to shape the future of the town’s aged care options, has received a strong showing of support from the community this week.
The proposal gained significant momentum over the past month as the vision for the future of aged care begins to emerge.
As Western District Newspapers revealed earlier this month, the Terang Aged Care Future steering committee is exploring the development of the retirement village to be located within a kilometre of the Terang township.
The seven-member committee, comprised entirely of respected locals, had originally set out to advocate for the development of a high-needs aged care facility following the closure of May Noonan Aged Care Facility, and subsequent collapse of its operator Lyndoch Living, in 2023.
The committee began working with leading aged care specialists Ansell Strategic to assess the viability of bringing a state-of-the-art aged care facility in Terang however, the final business case study found insurmountable challenges which would prevent the building of a high-needs residential aged care facility in the short term.
Feedback from the community and the findings from the business case study instead saw the committee pivot to a new idea of developing a 60-70-unit residential retirement village in Terang – a goal it believes is attainable within the short term before re-visiting efforts to build a residential aged care facility when economic conditions are favourable.
Monday (November 25) marked the first opportunity the committee has had to take the business case study findings to the public and collect feedback on the retirement village concept through two separate community meetings held in the Rose Room at the Civic Hall.
Terang Aged Care Future committee member Murray Whiting said the community meeting had seen a strong turnout, with around 80 people coming along on the day to express strong support.
“It was good – we had 40-odd people attend our information session throughout the day, and then around the same during the evening,” he said.
“It’s good to see the level of community support.
“There was a realisation for us to see we were not going to be replacing what we had 20 years ago – we were looking at what we would require for the next 20 years.
“That’s where the chance came around – through an understanding this is what the future of aged care looks like in Terang.”
Mr Whiting said the community meeting had provided valuable insight in to the wants of the community, while providing an opportunity for the Terang Aged Care Future committee to answer questions.
“Most people were interested in the level of independence and aged care support which would be available through the proposal,” he said.
“The other questions revolved around the finances – what contributions they would have to make, what costs there were along the way and what the community would have to put in to it.”
Western District Newspapers can report committee chair Chris O’Connor has this week travelled to Canberra for a series of meetings, with hopes to attract a commitment for federal funding to back the proposal.
The funding would be utilised to identify a site for the development of the retirement village.
Although in the early stages, there has also been a level of support from local politicians as well as discussions held with Victorian Government representatives.
“There is momentum, and so far, we’ve had good support from the local politicians,” Mr Whiting said.
“We’re hoping with elections in the next 12 months there will be some interest.
“We’ve also been speaking with people at a state level – both department representatives and local members.”
In addition to preliminary interest of government support, there has also been productive conversations with prospective site operators.
“Our consultants have been speaking with a few operators who are interested, so now we know we’ve got a good level of community support we can go back to those operators and continue to negotiate with them,” Mr Whiting said.
“It will require a lot of federal and state funding to be put in to it, as well as local contributions as well.
“There will be a few steps along the way, and once we’ve got a more concrete plan we’ll be going out in to the community and sourcing a community contribution.”
The steering committee views the retirement village as an attainable short-term option, with hopes the retirement village could be developed over a one-or-two-year period, before reigniting the push for the development of a high-needs residential aged care facility in Terang.