Rest-home residents ask Govt for payout
Elderly Christchurch residents living in red-zoned rest homes have not been able to move on since the earthquakes, Labour MP Lianne Dalziel says.
Labour’s earthquake recovery spokeswoman yesterday received a petition calling for help for the elderly residents of retirement villages left with large losses and living in substandard rental accommodation after the earthquakes.
The Government has refused to include residents in its red-zone scheme, instead buying out the villages owners at 2007 rateable values.
The petition is signed by 17 Grey Power board members on behalf of its more than 65,000 members.
While the residents do not qualify, the businesses that owned the villages do and have received payouts. The Government has said residents would then negotiate with the owners of the complexes to determine how much they would get.
Kate Sheppard Gardens, Kate Sheppard Lifecare, St Ives Rest Home and Avonview Retirement Complex have been red-zoned.
Dalziel addressed residents at the All Saints Church hall in Burwood and said the petition was asking the Government to treat residents fairly.
‘‘The Government has adopted a narrow definition of ownership, ignoring the fact that these were your homes which you would otherwise be entitled to stay in for the rest of your lives,’’ she said. ‘‘Given the context of the redzone offer . . . it is . . . within the Government’s power to extend a fair offer to these insured red-zone home-owners, who have not been given the opportunity to move on.’’
Grey Power want to see the Government pay all the village residents the money they needed to buy similar units at 2007 prices.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the Government’s buyout offer could not be applied ‘‘to those who have purchased a right to occupy’’.
He had ‘‘deep sympathy’’ for all Canterbury residents who have had to leave their homes.
‘‘For the residents of retirement villages, I acknowledge that the relocation process is more unsettling than for most.’’
In January the Government extended the buyout scheme to the four affected complexes despite their being commercial properties.
Brownlee said he understood the residents’ concern that new units at other retirement villages were unaffordable.
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