Sunshine Coast respite home dismayed at plans to construct a retirement village at Highworth.
A Sunshine Coast woman who operates a carers retreat says her business won’t be the same if a controversial retirement village goes ahead.
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A Sunshine Coast woman who operates a carers retreat says her business won't be the same if a controversial retirement village goes ahead.
Lorrae O'Rourke has run home-based retreat Carers Outlook with husband Vince from their Savilles Road property for 11 years.
They offer respite to carers from across Queensland.
"We chose to live here because of the peace and the serenity," Mrs O'Rourke said.
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She is worried that peace could be a thing of the past if a 275-home dollar retirement village, proposed to be built across from their home, is approved.
"It's certainly going to affect our business in that we don't feel we can say it's going to be an area of peace and quiet for people to have respite," Mrs O'Rourke said.
"We see a lot of other locals who walk down our street because of that quietness and that serenity that's created by the view that we see here."
Highgate Developments, directed by Andrew and Jo Pitcher, lodged an application with Sunshine Coast Council in November last year to build Grove Retirement on Savilles Road.
The village will feature two and three bedroom homes and community facilities.
The proposal is code-assessable, meaning it does not have to go through public consultation as it complies with local planning provisions.
Mrs O'Rourke is concerned locals' mental health will suffer during the planned stage construction, which is set to take about five years.
Her dream is to somehow be able to purchase the land back from the developer and maintain the green space in Nambour.
"As an environmental green space with the beautiful trees, the sounds of the birds gives you this sense of peace that we all need for mental health," Mrs O'Rourke said.
"So it would be wonderful for the Sunshine Coast for residents and tourists to be able to come and walk among this beautiful environment."
Attempts to contact Mr Pitcher for comment were unsuccessful.
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Originally published as Sunshine Coast respite home dismayed at plans to construct a retirement village at Highworth.
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