'Very confident': Tannum Sands retirement village on track

Initial construction costs are expected to be about $40 million. Parties involved say the site will prevent elderly residents having to leave the region.

AGED CARE: Federal Member for Flynn Ken O'Dowd and Flinders Village project manager Ross Humphreys at the proposed facility site at 75 Tannum Sands Rd. Picture: Noor Gillani

FLINDERS Village's project manager is "very confident” the proposed Tannum Sands site will be seen to completion.

The Federal Government recently allocated the facility 84 aged-care beds, funded by the 2018-19 Aged Care Approvals Round.

Genbridge managing director Ross Humphreys said there were only one or two more hurdles to overcome to secure the retirement village.

"I think the final milestones will occur within the next maybe six to eight months and then we'll be able to get a confirmed timetable for the future,” Mr Humphreys said.

The facility will include 100 retirement villas on top of the 84 aged-care beds and is expected to cost about $40million.

Mr Humphreys said final plans would be submitted to council, after which construction was expected to be carried out on a stage-by-stage basis.

He said construction progress would also depend on the pick-up of sales.

"It's a huge project financially and we need to make sure we've got everything covered,” Mr Humphreys said.

"There will be initial retirement villas as well as the aged care in the first stages, and the community centre ... and we're incorporating a number of other facilities such as home care.”

Mr Humphreys said there were plans to partner with local educational institutions and external providers to cater for the project's employment demands.

Former Gladstone Region councillor Maxine Brushe has been an advocate for the Flinders Village and said the site would service the entire region and keep families together.

"We do not have a retirement village in this region and we'd have to be one of very few places along the coast that don't,” Ms Brushe said.

"This is a facility that will be an enormous benefit, not just to the elderly and those thinking about retirement but also to their families because at the moment we have people leaving here all the time to access these facilities elsewhere.

"We have a beautiful community here that's a wonderful place to live and we'd like to keep these people here - they're the backbone of our community.”

Federal Member for Flynn Ken O'Dowd said the facility would have bed allocations covering classifications including low care, high care, respite and dementia.

"Every one of these new places will mean local seniors and their families can have more confidence knowing they have future care options in locations as close as possible to the communities they know and love,” Mr O'Dowd said.

"It's a pretty large site and a lot of good things are going to happen on this site and I look forward to the sod turning.”