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\u201cIn the old days, the local focal point was the local church,\u201d said Mr Costelloe, who grew up in regional Bendigo, the son of a policeman and teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was your bonding place to meet families and all get together and whether you\u2019re religious or not is not so relevant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe church was just the place where people came gather and met each other in a friendly and safe environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t happen so much anymore, particularly with traditional Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n
In some of Villawood\u2019s newer communities the developer is building churches and temples, so that sense of community building is still happening.<\/p>\n
But for those who are not religious, Villawood have created their clubs where they have pools, gyms, and community centres and parents\u2019 lounges and so on.<\/p>\n
Mr Costelloe said that these clubs form real melting pots, new community bonds.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come along and form new swimming groups, playgroups, walking groups, reading groups, tennis groups, gym groups,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a common interest, you can meet through their Facebook groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone forms these new little communities and it works really well because people just really want to come in and make new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Villawood also provides land-price discounts for care workers, once again looking to consolidate the attributes brought to the community table by the likes of nurses, teachers, paramedics, police, personal carers, and health workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job is to create that real sense of community,\u201d said Mr Costelloe.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce buyers have chosen where they want to live, from the masterplan, from the precinct structure plan of the whole area, that\u2019s where Villawood\u2019s MO kicks in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn so many ways, it\u2019s ticking the boxes of common sense, in property, as often seems the case, common sense isn\u2019t always that common.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are social animals; they need to interact with others and I think that\u2019s the key secret to what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PRICES, land supply, interest rates and FOMO might be grinding the property market\u2019s gears right now but another factor again is colouring sentiment as a growing number of discerning buyers seek more social bang for the buck. A spokesperson for developer Villawood Properties said that factor is happiness. Yes, that elusive life goal. Turns out […]<\/p>\n