KIMBERLEY Talbot is a woman with a deadline. An urgent one. On April 21 the Richmond Club CEO and Hawkesbury MP Dominic Perrottet will go in to Macquarie Street in the city on a mission to alleviate the Hawkesbury’s dire shortage of housing for the elderly.
At the meeting with Minister for Social Housing Brad Hazzard, Ms Talbot will put a cogent case for the granting of Crown land around Richmond Golf Club to build affordable seniors’ housing.
But it’s not just the general shortage of such housing that’s driving the visit; there’s a much more imminent deadline. Hawkesbury Living’s new palliative care centre and behavioural care wing – also desperately needed – are about to be built on the land currently occupied by Norman Court, Richmond Club’s 14 seniors housing villas on March Street.
When Norman Court is bulldozed in a year’s time it will leave 16 elderly residents homeless (including Grace Golding on this edition’s front page). When the Gazette spoke to Ms Talbot about it last Friday it was clear the responsibility to these residents was weighing heavily on her.
But the dominoes will have to fall in the right order for her to provide for them. Before Norman Court is bulldozed Ms Talbot wants to build prefabricated seniors’ housing at Richmond. She said she’s spoken to her bank and if she can get some Crown land allocated to the project it’s financially viable.
“If Brad [Hazzard] allocates us the land, Richmond Club can pay for the housing,” she said.
There’s a large block behind Richmond golf course where she’d like to build 14 affordable units and land beside the golf clubhouse where she’d like to build 40 independent living units.
“We’re hoping the meeting will give us an outcome to be able to place the people at Norman Court,” she said. “I can’t live with displacing these people.
“This is our shot to help the community.”
If she can get the Crown land, and an extension on the licence for the nursing home wing which Macquarie MP Louise Markus is helping her with, she will build the seniors housing first, then the nursing home wing.
“So many people are praying we get this over the line,” Ms Talbot said.
Hawkesbury MP Dominic Perrottet said one of the NSW Government's priorities was addressing the growing demand for social housing.
“Here in Hawkesbury, I am always open to working with local organisations to explore new opportunities for delivering the secure housing that Hawkesbury's most vulnerable need,” he said.