Plan proposes independent housing for elderly in Winchelsea

THE Winchelsea community continues to work on a proposal to develop a vacant block with homes for older people, with one proponent saying there would be “significant opposition” from locals if the land was used for public housing instead.

The board of the Winchelsea and District Community Bank has put together the plan to create 10 small homes on a block at the corner of Harding and Hopkins streets.

The homes would be for older people, or those with some disabilities, to live independently instead of moving into an aged care facility.

Ken McDonald from the board gave an update on the project at last month’s Growing Winchelsea meeting, held at The Hub at Eastern Reserve.

He said there was no alternative for older people on farms to downsize to in Winchelsea, with those people forced to move to Geelong or stay in homes that were unsuitable for them.

Under the proposal, which the board has worked on for the past 12 months, the Surf Coast Shire would provide the block it owns at 42 Harding Street, the Winchelsea Community Bank would fund the houses’ construction, Hesse Rural Health would manage the site (including maintenance and providing services to residents), and community groups such as the Winchelsea Lions Club and Growing Winchelsea would also provide support.

The land at 42 Harding Street was originally slated in 2017 to hold an ambulance station, but the facility was later moved to Wills Street and opened in late 2019.

Mr McDonald said the board presented the proposal for the 10 homes to the Surf Coast Shire in September 2020 and had been working with the shire since then, but it was “quite frustrating” that the shire was now considering public housing as an alternative use of the site.

“I think it’s important that the Winchelsea community is aware of that, because in the discussions I’ve had with people, Winchelsea doesn’t need more public housing – we’ve probably got a lot of public housing, we don’t want to import people to Winchelsea just because it provides housing when we haven’t got the jobs here and we’re short on public transport.

“We’re probably of the pretty strong belief that it’s is not a viable option for Winchelsea and it would generate significant opposition if that was to be proposed.”

He said the community bank had been part of many projects in Winchelsea, including The Hub, and had contributed about $3 million over the past 17 years.

“We’ve assisted with numerous projects, often in conjunction with the shire where they haven’t been able to fully fund it, and I think this is one opportunity to generate a true partnership that we would hope that the shire would not look at as the one project but an overall big picture and something where they’re working with the community, with Hesse, the Lions Club and the Community Bank.”

The shire’s general manager of culture and Ccmmunity Chris Pike said the council was yet to formally consider the proposal but had continued discussions with them over the past 12 months.