Provision lacking for Canty elderly?

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 3

Provision lacking for Canty elderly?

By

GLEN PERKINSON

Elderly people in Canterbury may not be well provided for in the future, according to the Canterbury United Council.

The council will investigate the need for retirement villages in the region and the provision made for them by individual authorities in a housing study to be conducted later this year. The council believed insufficient land had been marked in district schemes as suitable for retirement homes.

Cr Brian Shackel told the recent council meeting that the significant point in retirement villages was the demand for ample space. "The concern is, in the Canterbury region, that there is not enough space — blocks of land the size needed for villages — allowed for them. We must change planning schemes to accommodate these developments.” The council discussed a report by a council regional planner, Mr Ivan Thomson, which outlined

the requirements of retirement villages and the provision made for them within Canterbury. , Mr Thomson said that Canterbury was not regarded as a “retirement area” in the same way as areas such as Nelson and Tauranga. “Although towns such as Hanmer Springs and Akaroa are popular retirement towns, the region over all lacks the warm climate and other attraction characteristics of retirement centres.” The report also claimed that few District Schemes made specific provision for retirement villages. “They are normally covered under the definition of ‘elderly persons’ housing which includes developments by the Crown, local authorities, and charitable institutions.”

It said that local authorities were reluctant to allow private developers to build retirement complexes because “of difficulties in ensuring the retirement village is not converted into a normal

residential use which does not meet District Scheme standards.”

However, Cr Shackel said there were “excellent opportunities to encourage development- in this area.”

The senior regional planning officer, Mr Max Barber, said the council realised the difficulties in ensuring there were large blocks of land available for retirement villages but he was confident they could be made available.

A council demographic study showed that in the next 20 years there would be a significantly larger proportion of the population in the “elderly” age bracket and therefore there would be a demand for suitable care and housing. Villages were likely to demand larger sites on locations on. the urban outskirts.

The housing study will also take into consideration that Canterbury has a slightly higher proportion of people over the age of 60 than the rest of New Zealand.