Property developer Philip Fox has lodged two separate applications – one for 35 units over six storeys and a second for 60 units over two buildings, one four storeys and the other seven storeys – at the former Colonial Ridge Retreat in Salamander Bay, 210km north of Sydney.
While around 80 people objected to the plans at a community meeting, the local council says the decision to approve the development will be market driven.
Their Strategic Planning Department is currently working on a Local Housing Strategy which aims to provide more direction for seniors housing.
“My feedback is that people are willing to downsize which has the advantage of freeing up housing stock for younger people looking to get into the housing market,” Mayor Ryan Palmer said.
A case then of ‘if you build it, they will come’?
