Anglicare Oran Park is set to grow after Camden Council approved a Development Application on Tuesday, 14 August.
The $52 million development will establish an 80-bed residential care home, as well as 67 additional retirement living villas on the existing site of the Oran Park Village. A new community room as well as an internal vehicular bridge across the riparian corridor and associated landscaping will also be provided.
“There is a high number of people seeking aged care services in the community and several have expressed frustration at having to find care out of the local area. There is also an increased need for dementia-specific services and organisations that can provide expert complex care including palliative care,” explains Peter Paltoo, Anglicare General Manager of Property.
“We have also heard concerns from other health care providers in the area about the urgent need for more respite, general aged care places and particularly dementia places.
“The new development will address some of the shortfall of residential aged care places and provide dementia care as well as employment for about 80 local people.”
Oran Park has seen significant development over the last 10 years, in line with the rapid growth evident in many parts of the Camden LGA. The population of the Cobbitty-Leppington SA2 region, of which Oran Park is part, has tripled since 2011 to almost 20,000. While popular with first home buyers, this has also been the case for retirees and downsizers. Around 2,000 (10%) residents are now aged over 65.
The increase in the number of people aged over 65 in the region is expected to accelerate over the next 20 years. The NSW Department of Planning and Environment predicts that the Camden LGA will be home to more than 32,000 people 65+ by 2036, an increase of almost 300% over 2016. Appropriate housing will need to be provided for older people within this region to meet demand that is likely to result from this rapid growth.
Similarly, demand for residential aged care is also expected to increase substantially over the next 20 years. By 2021, the Camden LGA will require more than 120 new aged care beds to meet the federal government’s aged care planning ratio.
“This development and associated amenities will be for the benefit of both our current and future residents. Co-locating our retirement living villas and residential aged care services ensures that the present and future care needs of our residents can be met, removing the need to relocate to find specialised care elsewhere.”
It is currently projected that the general infrastructure works will commence later this year and the development of the residential care home in the new year. Staged construction of the villas will follow the completion of the infrastructure works in mid-2019.
Media contact: publicaffairs@anglicare.org.au