Petition calls for local lifestyle village

A PUSH to establish a lifestyle village in the Golden Plains Shire’s south for people over the age of fifty-five has been raised at this week’s municipal council meeting.

A petition signed by more than 100 people within four days was put to councillors by Derek Stanford, on behalf of Bannockburn residents.

Mr Stanford said those who have signed support the idea of the town having its own purpose-built retirement community.

“We would like to ask our elected council to encourage an over-55 lifestyle village provider to build and operate one in the Bannockburn area,” he said.

“Our reason for this is that although many exist in the Geelong and Bellarine area, there is no such place within the Golden Plains Shire.

“These over-55 lifestyle villages are in great demand, as they are a great way for older people to downsize in retirement.

“This in turn also enables more family homes to come onto the housing market.”

Mr Stanford said the signatories all enjoy living in Golden Plains Shire and the social clubs and activities available to them, but something’s missing.

“When the time comes to choose a lifestyle village, we have to move away from the shire, and this is the wrong time of life to be leaving your friends, clubs, activities, doctors and community life in the shire that we are all accustomed to,” he said.

“I know if one of these villages was planned for Bannockburn today, there would be many people willing to reserve places in it.

“We therefore ask our elected council to help us achieve this.”

At last Tuesday evening’s regular Golden Plains Shire council meeting, Cr Helena Kirby said she was “very happy to accept” the petition when it was tabled.

“This was brought to us at Bannockburn Farmer’s Market and we had some residents who were concerned where their life was going in their later years and that there were no lifestyle villages around in this area outside Geelong,” she said.

“They were very passionate about it… and would like to see us move forward.

“Our CEO has contacted some of these lifestyle villages to see if they would be interested in building one in our shire.

“Now this petition has come forward, it might just give us a bit more of a boost to go forward and see if we can help these residents in their later years. Not everyone wants to go into a nursing home.”

A letter has also been sent to developers of over-55 lifestyle villages, written by Mr Stanford, emphasising Bannockburn’s current population boom.

“It is, after Geelong, the fastest growing township in western Victoria with [more-than] 6000 residents,” he wrote.

“There are currently plans passed for another development which will contain 1800 more new homes to be built. The prediction is that within the next eight years it will be bigger than Lara.

“We (the residents) have continuously asked that the Golden Plains council try to encourage an over-50 lifestyle type village be built in Bannockburn, as there is no such places in the Golden Plains Shire. Lara currently has two of these type villages successfully operating.

“If we want to live in a lifestyle type village, and many of us do, we have to reluctantly relocate to Geelong, Lara or Ballarat.”