Aged flock to Thames

While the country’s population ages, one district does so faster than the rest.

Thames-Coromandel has the highest proportion of older people in New Zealand, the latest figures from Stats NZ show.

But it’s also a district being battered by storms and working to mitigate fast rising sea levels.

A lot of retirees opt to leave the bustle of the city for Coromandel baches, Age Concern Thames manager Kathryn Jury said.

However, a lack of supermarkets and medical care in small Coromandel beach towns sees many of them later flock to nearby Thames.

The Waikato town has shops, a big hospital, senior community groups, flat land and it’s close to all three points of the golden triangle.

The population of older people in the district seems to be growing.

This year, 31 per cent of the resident population – up four per cent from last year – were over 65, higher than any other territory authority.

Six years ago the Age Concern Thames office had one employee who worked about five hours a week, Jury said.

Now there’s a full time office, five employees and it’s always in need of more volunteers.

Climate change, however, may prove to be a future spanner in the works. Reports show lowlying towns in the district are at risk of rising sea levels.

And a January storm saw the Thames Coast Rd close, limiting access to properties and aged care facilities.

‘‘So isolation can be a bit of an issue for the coastal dwelling elders’’.

The influx of older, community-minded retirees has transformed the Waikato town into the ‘‘volunteer capital of the world,’’ Jury said. ‘‘Our [groups] just thrive.’’

Thames-Coromandel district Mayor Sandra Goudie agreed that older people bring a new energy and enthusiasm to the district’s communities.

It’s a bonus that the town isn’t too far for city dwelling grandchildren to visit from Auckland, Hamilton or Tauranga.

And while storms and a rising sea level bring challenges, Goudie reckons the council is doing its part to mitigate it with a coastal management strategy.

‘‘Council have to come to the party to some degree.

‘‘You can never anticipate what might happen with a storm, so you can’t take anything for granted’’.