Christian Homes Tasmania’s Pinnacle Village aged care facility approved by Kingborough Council

A proposal to build “a halfway house between a retirement village and a nursing home” has been approved by a local council, despite concerns raised by nearby residents.

Christian Homes Tasmania has plans for Pinnacle Village at Kingston.

An aged care facility described as “a halfway house between a retirement village and a nursing home” is set to be built at Kingston after the plans were unanimously approved by the Kingborough Council.

The Christian Homes Tasmania (CHT) development at Village Drive and Alfreds Garden will comprise 75 rooms, 60 assisted living apartments, 154 carparking spaces, a hairdresser, meeting room, cafe, and offices.

It will be constructed at the former site of the RSL buildings, which were approved for demolition in 2020.

The interior of a unit planned by Christian Homes Tasmania Pinnacle Village at Kingston. Picture: Supplied.

The development application for Pinnacle Village attracted 46 representations, with the vast majority opposing the project, citing concerns around traffic and property value impacts, noise, the scale of the development, and the proposed removal of 175 native trees, including 81 that are of high conservation value.

The buildings will be constructed across four wings over an area of 17,605 sq/m. The residential aged care facility will be contained in two wings on the eastern part of the site.

A planning report prepared by Kingborough Council officers said the buildings would be “stepped over various levels to work with the fall of the land”, with a maximum of four storeys and an upper height limit of 11.8m.

Kingborough councillors unanimously approved the application at a meeting on Monday but imposed conditions on the development.

The loss of high conservation value trees will be offset by a “financial contribution” from the developer.

“The application proposes a mixed use proposal that will provide aged care and associated facilities in Kingston in a time when there is an increased demand for aged care,” the officers’ report said.

Christian Homes Tasmania CEO Glenn Hardwick. Picture: Rosie Hastie.

“The proposal will add to the diversity of residential options available in the area whilst also providing associated services.”

The council said the proposal satisfied the performance criteria and applicable standards under the local planning scheme and relevant codes.

CHT CEO Glenn Hardwick told the Mercury in February that Pinnacle Village was an “ambitious” first for Tasmania.

“This is a new concept,” he said.

“You have a lot more independence with services available.

“It’s a halfway house between a retirement village and a nursing home.”

Mr Hardwick said there was a “huge shortage” of aged care beds available in the state and that Pinnacle Village would “address part of that shortage and help meet that upcoming demand from the baby boomers who are now becoming our demographic group that we have to accommodate in aged care”.

Originally published as Christian Homes Tasmania’s Pinnacle Village aged care facility approved by Kingborough Council