A development application for a new $30 million aged care facility at south Goulburn is expected to be lodged soon.
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The 144-bed project, by Signature Care, is proposed for a site between the Coles Distribution Centre and large lot residential land at Ducks Lane and Lillkar Road.
The company, headed by Graeme Croft, looked at five sites around Goulburn before deciding on the block.
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The complex will include high and low care, a dementia wing, hairdressing salon, chapel, cinema room, cafe, doctor's consulting room and offices, according to documents. The single rooms will be air-conditioned and have ensuites, and residents will have 24-hour nursing care.
Consultants says the facility will employ 170 people, including 18 registered nurses, 18 'endorsed' nurses and 69 personal carers. Employment is estimated to generate an additional $6.4m into the economy. The company stated there would be more economic spin-offs from food, property services, medical supplies, cleaning, utility provision and general needs.
Councillors at their meeting on Tuesday decided to progress a planning proposal for the site that amends Goulburn Mulwaree's 2009 LEP and paves the way for the development to occur.
It is not a rezoning but amends a schedule in the LEP to permit an aged care facility with consent in the RU6 transition zone. It will also restrict the complex to a northern section of the land that is considered less constrained, and introduce a four-hectare minimum lot size in the RU6 portion.
The rest of the block, which is zoned B6 enterprise corridor, has drainage lines to Run-O-Waters Creek and contains ecologically sensitive vegetation, council planners said.
The planning proposal will be submitted to the state government for a gateway determination. The council is seeking delegated authority from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for the proposal.
But it will not be fully decided until assessment of a development application is almost complete. The community will have a say as part of the exhibition phase.
Yet there may be some hurdles to jump.
"A significant concern (about) the suitability of the planning proposal remains the potential impact of noise emanating from the Coles Distribution Centre," planners' report stated.
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This Centre is 100 metres east of the proposed facility. Coles has flagged closure within the next few years but has not confirmed an exact date. Melbourne-based Pelligra Group bought the building earlier this year and has indicated several tenancies after Coles' closure.
The Centre's location factor and the presence of ecologically sensitive Box Gum grassy woodland will be assessed as part of the DA.
The company's consultants said the facility would mostly avoid sensitive vegetation in the northern section. However, it would require "removal of one yellow box (tree) and potential impacts to a further 11 yellow box."
"Where possible, these trees will be retained and work within the tree protection zone will be kept to a minimum," consultants stated.
Council planners reported that the entire block was bushfire prone but noted this was the case with all undeveloped grassland on rural allotments in NSW.
The site search has taken longer than expected. Mr Croft told The Post last June that he hoped to nominate a property by the following month. He anticipated the facility would be operational within two years.
Mayor Bob Kirk said he was pleased to see the project progressing.
"The council is very supportive of further aged care in the region which is necessary for our population but will also generate around 170 new jobs," he said in a statement.
The 144 bed spaces are funded by the federal government's Aged Care Approvals Round for 2018/19.
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Louise Thrower
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
