$14m bid to house seniors
MORE than 300 aged care places will be provided by RSL Care in a $14 million investment in new accommodation facilities at Sovereign Hills.
RSL Care is one of the largest not-for-profit aged care providers in Australia and has acquired several sites within the residential development on Port Macquarie’s outskirts.
The plan is to develop an aged care village, three “embedded in community” villages and aged care apartments across sites totalling eight hectares by 2012.
“The range of care that will be offered at Sovereign Hills will set a new benchmark for seniors living in NSW and is in direct response to the changing needs of older Australians,” director of Lewis Land Group Robert Yandell said.
“RSL Care’s model provides a complete range of care options to suit those who wish to stay living in their own home with the security of assistance & independent seniors through to those who have intense health needs that need to be closely managed.”
The aged care village at Sovereign Hills will comprise 100 independent living units and a high-care facility of up to 120 beds.
RSL Care also will develop three “embedded in community” villages within Sovereign Hills built on large sites within general residential areas.
The homes will all feature street frontages with separate entrances yet share a common landscaped backyard providing the security of a village to residents.
The first of these clusters will be developed in 2008 and will feature 17 individual properties.
A 50-apartment aged care facility also will be developed in the Sovereign Hills town centre above retail and commercial buildings.
“In addition to the obvious community benefits of having such a diverse range of care facilities, these facilities will generate almost 200 permanent jobs at Sovereign Hills,” Mr Yandell said.
Sovereign Hills, a $1 billion community development, is located on a 350-hectare land parcel at the junction of Oxley and Pacific highways.
The site will be developed into a sustainable new town within the next 10 to 15 years.
The award-winning development will include a diverse range of residential dwelling types, a business and technology park, a town centre providing up to 2,000 jobs, convenience retail and educational and recreational facilities.
Extensive parklands and a lake system will form the heart of Sovereign Hills.
RSL Care provides HomeCare, retirement living and residential care to the ex-service and wider communities. It began in 1936 and has grown to accommodate more than 4,000 people in 24 retirement communities throughout Queensland and NSW.
Original article was written by Simone Plews and appeared in the Port Macquarie News on 27 October 2007.