Amy Hume
The future of a proposed respite day care centre for dementia patients in Macedon Ranges will be determined next week.
MacGregors Farm proposes short-term, day respite care for up to 15 early-stage dementia patients living at home.
It’s a project that has been years in the making for Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group, which would fill a void in the region for this type of care.
The facility is earmarked for 3.940 hectares of Woodend farmland at Old Lancefield Road that was gifted for the cause. It falls outside the town settlement boundary.
Next Wednesday, Macedon Ranges Shire councillors are expected to weigh up net community benefit of the facility against site suitability and protection of Farm Zone land.
Addressing councillors at a planning meeting last week, experienced carer Cherry Servis said the facility was much-needed and that need was growing.
“Carers living at home with dementia patients are absolutely worn out by their 24/7 role. It’s an incredibly hard role,” she said.
Cherry cared for her husband for 14 years following his dementia diagnosis. The lack of support available led her and others to form the Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group in 2012.
“I came to realise that with the rapidly rising numbers diagnosed with this insidious disease in the Macedon Ranges, and little or no respite available, that something needed to be done to support our increasing membership,” she said.
“There is an urgent need for a premises where those with a diagnosis can be cared for on a regular or casual basis and this need will be addressed by the Macgregors Farm Day Care proposal.”
The application will include a respite day care activities cottage with two rest rooms and kitchenettes, a single bedroom caretaker’s house, farm animals on site and maintenance shed.
No objections have been received against the application.
Financial advisor Bob Nixon said his work involved assisting people entering aged care facilities and there was a service gap to be filled.
“Respite care for a loved one is near impossible to find on a day care basis. Aged care facilities tend to use their respite opportunities for people in the throws of seeking permanent residency,” he said.
“This project (Macgregors Farm) is ground-breaking. I don’t know of any other similar facility anywhere.”
Last year the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved a similar application in Mark’s Country Place. This allowed the discretionary use of an outdoor recreation facility to developed on land zoned for farming.
The decision was made based on its limited impacts balanced against net community benefit.
Town planner Chris Banon told councillors last week the planning scheme allowed for a permit to be granted and the question was – should it be granted?
“In my 55 years as a town planner I can confidently say that I have encountered no other permit application with such strong merit,” he said.
“If this permit is not granted it will be a real retrograde step for the whole of planning process in Victoria.”
Macedon Ranges Shire Council is expected to make a decision on the Macgregors Farm proposal at its meeting on February 22.
