Hon. Colin Holt MLA, Paul Fitzpatrick chairman PDC, Andrew Ward CEO PDC, Nicole Gibbs CEO Quambie Park, Michael Walmsley chairman Quambie Park.
19 January 2017… The Waroona aged community is the key beneficiary of the announcement by the Hon. Colin Holt MLC that Quambie Park at Waroona has been granted $1,845,000 to develop purpose-built affordable accommodation for the aged.
When completed, the Waroona Housing Options Village will comprise of nine purpose-built accommodation units for aged people and one central “Community Hub” building offering health, home and social services as a primary venue for social inclusion events and activities. The Village is expected to deliver up to 8.8 full time jobs during construction and a minimum of 4 during operation.
The Royalties for Regions funding has been approved for this project through the Growing Our South program. The Peel Development Commission has worked closely with Quambie Park in developing and advocating this project including submitting the business case to the Department of Regional Development. Commission chairman Paul Fitzpatrick said the needs of the Waroona community and the benefits to the Peel that this project will bring were made clear during the extensive stakeholder engagement process.
“The creation of the Waroona Housing Options Village aligns with our Peel Regional Blueprint’s Strong and Resilient Communities theme and the recommendations of the Regional Development Council’s Statewide Ageing in the Bush report. It will mean more elderly Waroona residents aging in place and spending more in the local community, and it will reduce the demand for residential care and social housing and saving on health service costs as a result of less demand,” he said.
The accommodation units will be specifically designed to ensure health and hospital equipment can be used within the home (e.g. hoists; two-person assist; ambulance stretchers; oxygen concentrators; electric beds; mobility aids, balustrades, etc.) and will ensure health professionals have a functional working space suitable for service delivery. Quambie Park has been operating for 30 years and is now one of the largest employers in the Shire of Waroona with over 100 employees delivering essential services to 120 clients and residents. In addition to the long term benefits, the Village will have secondary effects for the construction and building supply industries which in turn flows to commodity suppliers and retailers.
The Health Care and Social Assistance sector is the Peel’s fourth largest employment sector, providing 3,200 jobs in 2011 and employing approximately 9% of the Region’s workforce. The sector experienced an annual job growth rate of 5.4% over the 2006-11 period, largely driven by residential care services and social assistance services. The growth of this sector is consistent with the broader population and economic growth of the Peel. The total project budget is $3,349,880 with Quambie Park contributing $1,504,880. The Waroona Housing Options Village is scheduled to commence in 2018 and be completed by September 2019. `
ENDS…
Media Contact: Andrew Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Peel Development Commission, andrew.ward@peel.gov.wa.au, (08) 9535 4140