Elderly man’s anxious search

A 90-year-old man is still searching for a new home after being evicted from a Nelson retirement village to make way for a new development.

The man was one of six Omaio Retirement Village residents who were told in November that their homes would be demolished to build new ones.

Oceania Healthcare, which owns the retirement village in Songer St, Stoke, announced that it will be tearing down 14 of its onebedroom units to build eight twobedroom houses. At the time, Oceania Healthcare sales marketing and village operations manager Jill Birch said the company had struggled to sell the onebedroom units and many of them were vacant.

Residents of the one-bedroom units were given 90 days to find alternative accommodation. The deadline is January 31.

Age Concern Nelson-Tasman manager Sue Tilby said a 90-yearold man, who has lived in the village for about 10 years, was the only resident who was still searching for a new home. She said he had an anxious wait over Christmas and the new year, but Age Concern staff were keeping in regular contact with him.

‘‘He’s a sweet man that needs support,’’ Tilby said. ‘‘He is quite anxious but he knows that we are certainly not going to see him stuck. He is higher need, but also the higher rent possibility is a problem. But we’re working with him.’’

Tilby said summer was a difficult time to find affordable accommodation in a rental market that was already highly competitive.

‘‘There’s nothing available at the moment.’’

Age Concern was also working with Support Works to see if he qualified for rest home care.

They have also made enquiries with Abbeyfield, which provides housing solutions for the increasing ageing population in Nelson.

Flatting with others was also an option, but not ideal for a man of this age, Tilby said.

‘‘People that are higher in need obviously can’t go into that situation.’’

Tilby said a single-bedroom unit would be ideal for this man if he’s unable to qualify for rest home care.

‘‘He is still pretty able. Even at 90 he’s still out and about so if there was something in a singlebedroom unit it would be well worth looking at.’’

Age Concern had concerns about how Oceania managed the evictions of elderly residents, but Tilby said she was now ‘‘satisfied’’ with how they were handling the matter.

‘‘We’re now satisfied that they realise that probably the way it was approached wasn’t the best and in future I know that they will manage the process probably better for older people’s needs,’’ she said. ‘‘They’re absolutely saying no one would be kicked out unless they have somewhere to go, which is good.’’

If you know of suitable accommodation for this man, please contact Nelson-Tasman Age Concern on 03 544 7624.