Buckland Retirement Village turns to NSW Govt to unlock expansion

After serving the Blue Mountains community with services and accommodation since 1936, the Not For Profit charity is now seeking NSW Government support for its next phase of growth.

The site in Springwood, a town 72km west of Sydney’s CBD, features the existing Buckland Retirement Village, which includes the heritage-listed Buckland Convalescent House, initially established in 1936 as a hospital for women.

Since then, the site has expanded and been altered multiple times through a series of planning applications, which has resulted in its use as a seniors living and aged care facility since the 1980s.

Lyndhurst Retirement Village, which has 41 independent living units, also operated by Buckland Aged Care Services, is on the northeastern portion of the site and forms part of Buckland Estate.

Now a State Significant Development Application has been lodged with the NSW Government on behalf of The Buckland Convalescent Hospital to build:

• 77 additional independent living units (ILUs); and
• 22 additional high care beds.

This will bring the total number of ILUs to 198 and high care beds to 172.

A Scoping Report by Beam Planning states the application’s primary objective is to address the growing demand for aged care in the Lower Blue Mountains, while protecting the site’s environmental values and heritage significance.

The site has a total area of approximately 51,500msq, but only a relatively small portion of it can be developed due to several environmental constraints, which includes:

• Bush fire prone land (vegetation category 1 and vegetation buffer);
• State heritage item;
• Protected Area – Watercourses; - Protected Area – Riparian land;
• Protected Area – Vegetation Constraint Area;
• Protected Area – Ecological Buffer Area;
• Protected Area – Slope Constraint Area (>20%);
• Koala Habitat; and
• Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Area.

Blue Mountains City Council has expressed its concern over the development.

“Council acknowledges that significant community demand exists for seniors housing. Council’s Local Strategic Planning Statement supports the provision of additional seniors housing in appropriate locations.

“However, the existence of demand does not necessitate supply at the expense of resident safety or critically endangered vegetation.”