Geriatric hospital proposed for Kumeu
A proposed three-storey geriatric hospital and assisted living facility for the elderly in Kumeu is being opposed by neighbouring Soljan Estate Winery and Cafe.
Resource consent for Kumeu Country Estate, which will also include a child care facility, is currently being sought.
The proposal could see a 102-bed private hospital and up to 157 beds in an assisted living facility built on a site at 455 Taupaki Rd. The child care facility could cater for 100 children.
Project developers David Lowry and Craig Waymouth say the $75 million project would create over 50 jobs in the aged care facility and a further 20 in the child care centre.
But the key driver of the development is closer to home for Waymouth. He’s lived in the area for a long time. When his mother needed to move to a facility that could also take care of her there was only on choice in the area, and that rest home was old and also hard to get into, he says.
While there is now a new aged care hospital in the area there’s also a waiting list - which shows there is a need for another option, Waymouth says.
But Tony Soljan, managing director for Soljan Estate Winery and Cafe, says the land in question is zoned Countryside Living and the proposed development does not fit into the zoning.
He says if council approves the proposal it will set a precedent that could result in developments of this size and nature happening on any Countryside Living site. Lowry says they are confident that the nature, scale and design of the project has been done in a manner to appropriately meet the objectives and character of the zone.
The Auckland Urban Design Panel said the location of the buildings and landscape open spaces offer a successful solution for the setting. It said the smaller scale child care centre and landscape edge along Taupaki Rd ensures the aged care facilities are not overly dominant. It supported the breakdown of the building bulk into three distinct forms.
Waymouth says they have taken care to minimise the impact of the proposal including setting in the largest building to the hillside, leaving the front of the property clear and making the child care facility at the front low in scale.
Submissions on the proposal close on October 27.