Horsley Park resident Joe Viglione is calling on Fairfield Council to smooth the way for a retirement village

FAIRFIELD ADVANCE: HORSLEY PARK residents point to a growing need for a retirement village in their suburb.

Calling for retirement village in Horsley Park

A GROUP of residents has declared now is the time to start planning for a retirement village in Horsley Park.

As the nation’s population ages, the residents say the village would ensure people could remain in the region they know and have established links to as they get older.

Resident Joe Viglione has lived in Horsley Park for 45 years and said he did not want to wait for Fairfield Council’s next rural lands study, which may or may not recommend a retirement village.

“It’s important to do it while there’s still land available close to the village centre,” he said.

Katherine Kilpatrick was born in Horsley Park and has lived in the suburb on an off for 39 years.

“We appreciate what the council has done for Horsley Park and we’d like to give a special thank you to Mayor Frank Carbone, but we We need the retirement village and more commercial space in the village,” she said.

A Fairfield Council spokeswoman said there was no time frame for the rural lands study because the council was currently negotiating with the NSW Planning Department for funding.

She also said there were no plans for a retirement village, but the council did assist the aged care industry in the city.

■ Late last year, Fairfield Council changed development rules to allow granny flats in rural areas such as Horsley Park

■ A rural lands study, which may open the way for a retirement village, was postponed by the council to negotiate funding with the State Government