147 sites for senior housing in popular coastal village approved

The application for this Ballina Shire project has been approved with a number of strict conditions, and it will join a number of similar projects the company owns in NSW and Queensland.

A seniors housing project for 147 sites in Skennars Head was approved by the Northern Regional Planning Panel on May 31.

The project will cost an estimated cost of $33.9 million, and it was originally submitted to Ballina Shire Council by proponent GemLife in 2016.

The site is located on Skennars Head Road, opposite the Lennox Head soccer fields and next to the Ballina Headlands Leisure Park.

The original project included 211 sites for senior living, but the final approved version reduced the number of sites to 147.

The decision by the panel means that the project will be divided in two stages.

The first part will be completing the earthworks required to create the roads and infrastructure that will surround the sites, including a clubhouse and stormwater infrastructure.

Soil will have to be imported into the site to fill it up and raise the level of the land.

According to the decision document from the Northern Regional Planning Panel, “on-site vegetation, watercourse, stormbasin and management devices must be maintained and where necessary adapted in accordance with the approved Mosquito Management Plan and Wetland Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan”.

The site at 67 Skennars Head Rd in Skennars Head, opposite the Lennox Head soccer fields, where a seniors housing project has been approved.

The second part will be the construction of the homes, which will require a new development application to Ballina Council, as decided by the panel.

The project will have main entrance from Skennars Head Road.

GemLife may chose to make a separate application for development of each site, or one for all of them.

The company is already marketing the future site, as a precinct of dynamic and active lifestyle.

“A luxurious country club, designed with over-50s in mind, will house extensive first-class facilities to ensure you are never at a loss for something to do,” its website explained.

The GemLife project in Skennars Head will include 147 sites, plus a clubhouse and other amenities.

The company already owns similar facilities in a number of locations in Queensland and the Tweed area, plus a number of applications to build new ones.

Another project by the developer, for a $48-million 300-site manufactured home estate in River St, West Ballina, is also under assessment by the panel.

GemLife was contacted for comment.