Anglicare West NSW and ACT is seeking funding to buy RSL LifeCare’s closed Roy Wotton Gardens aged care home in Eden, 476km south of Sydney’s CBD.
The home was closed in December last year with RSL LifeCare stating it was “unfit for purpose”.
John Vilskersts, Anglicare West NSW and ACT’s general manager for seniors living, said the property had the potential to meet critical housing needs in the community by offering 16 low-cost units.
“Initial discussions with community members, including the Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast (SJASC), have shown that the housing crisis has particularly affected vulnerable people in this region, with hundreds of locals also heavily impacted by housing loss caused by the Black Summer bushfires,” he said.
“We are keen to see a positive outcome for the Eden community, and have appreciated working with the RSL LifeCare team as we move forward with plans for urgently needed housing support for people in this area.”
Mick Brosnan, SJASC president, said Anglicare West NSW and ACT’s proposal was the best put forward.
“Their proposal brings the facility back to the community from where it came, this would be up there as the best scenario we could have hoped for,” he said.
“It offers not only independent senior living but independent disability living, which is very rare in the shire.”
