Keeping seniors in their home town

Clermont group wants to keep seniors in their home town for longer

Clermont group hopes to help keep people in the mining town for longer. Picture: Bev Lacey

A GROUP of Clermont community members are fighting for infrastructure to help keep seniors in the town longer.

Prue Lonergan revealed that a number of people have left the mining town at the end of their working life. Ms Lonergan, secretary of the Belyando Enterprise Network Inc, said the organisation was developing a plan for more senior accommodation and aged care facilities in the town.

Since the low-care facility Monash Lodge closed in 2018, there has been a gap in the facilities available with only high-care facilities now available.

Ms Lonergan said the leaving retirees had a big social and economic impact on the Clermont community, with volunteers and people with a deep knowledge of the town leaving.

She said the group were trying to prepare for the predicted aging population and influx of people if the Adani Carmichael Mine project was approved.

"If you think of Clermont currently, you have a high-care facility and people living in their homes, that is pretty much all that is on offer,” Ms Lonergan said.

The group has considered alternative uses for Monash Lodge, which has been empty since the Queensland Health high-care facility MontCler opened.

BENI met with the buildings owner, Isaac Regional Council, to discuss bringing Monash Lodge up to specifications to help ease the strain on older people staying in their homes.

Ms Lonergan said giving seniors more low-care options would free up homes for new people to move to the mining town. The aim of the project is to keep people in Clermont, where they are connected to the community regardless of their stage of life or level of care.

"We see this as taking a refreshing look at ageing in rural communities, engaging with the elderly to understand needs priorities and what actions we should actually take,” Ms Lonergan said.

"We don't want to build a gated community that you need half a million dollars to get into in retirement ... it was working out what facilities we have in our community, how do we connect people but what other options would we need to downsize from a property, come into town, where would they be comfortable.”

Ms Lonergan said the group understood there would need to be multiple options.

Glencore has provided the group with funding to complete the Clermont Masterplan for Seniors Living Options. This will then allow BENI to raise funds through grants, fundraising and investment to help implement the plan. Ms Lonergan said BENI had no intention of running an aged-care facility, but create the plan for an organisation to take the facility on.

Originally published as Keeping seniors in their home town