September 2008
Masthead

Manningham looks at retirement house plans

Plans for the proposed retirement cottages in Harris Gully Road in Warrandyte have been "called in" to a full meeting of Manningham council--possibly in late September or October.

The Warrandyte Community Retirement Housing Co-operative--originators of the concept--have been working on the project for more than a year.

"The project, is close to shops and facilities and is considered by the co-op to be ideal in terms of location and size," board member Val Polley told the Diary. "Despite some objections lodged against the project, we hope that the project will ultimately gain council approval.

"It is a small and balanced development," she said. "Just five single-storey units on a site that could otherwise very possibly be subdivided. This is not a commercially-driven enterprise, it is a community response to a community need. This voluntary not-for-profit cooperative has made every effort to achieve amenity and aesthetics appropriate to Warrandyte while meeting the concerns the neighbours have expressed."

Packing

June Buck packs away 39 years of Warrandyte memories--not happy to be leaving.

Board member David Ellis stressed the significance attached to success or failure of the project. 

"This is a key test of community commitment on this issue," he said. "If this modest and well-planned project can't get the support of council and local residents, I think we can pretty much forget about getting any further retirement housing in Warrandyte."

The loss of another long-established Warrandyte resident underlines the desperate need for retirement housing in the area.

After 39 years, Mrs June Buck is selling her home in Valias Street and moving to a unit in Kilsyth. However, this is by no means her preferred option.

"I was really hoping to find a retirement unit in Warrandyte," she told the Diary, "but there is just nothing available. I have family and life-long friends here. Moving away is the last thing I wanted to do."

June Buck has been an active contributor to Warrandyte. She has been involved with a local craft group as well as supporting, with her late husband David, a number of drama productions with the theatre group.

"This is a caring and tight-knit community," she said. "I have so much enjoyed being part of it."

The predicament faced by June Buck is by no means an isolated instance. The Diary has often pointed to the dilemma facing older Warrandytians who need to downsize to more manageable housing. Mrs Buck said she knew of several neighbours and friends in a similar situation.

"Some of them say to me that they'll just have to be carried out in a box," she said. "I admire that spirit, but I wonder if that's the best that can be offered to people like us.

"We all get to the stage where we can't so easily climb on the roof to clean out the leaves, or keep the garden clear of fire-risk. It becomes difficult to stay in our homes. Does that mean that we are no longer welcome in our community?"

Mrs Buck had been hoping to secure one of five units planned for the Harris Gully Road site and specifically reserved for Warrandyte residents. The proposal has received many expressions of interest, but also some objections from neighbours--which Mrs Buck finds hard to understand.

"I'm amazed that people object to something so necessary," she said. "It seems so short-sighted. After all, everybody gets older--and older people are part of the community just as much as younger generations."