More than six years after land for the project was secured, and many more years of discussion about the need for a retirement village in Deniliquin, Edward River Village’s first villas are now available for sale.
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Two of the first six units have been completed and will be open for public viewing at a special event tomorrow.
The remaining four villas in this stage of the development are expected to be completed and available by April.
Further stages of construction at the village - which spans 2.2ha and is planned to accommodate 32 villas plus communal spaces - will be triggered once all six units are under contract.
The construction project has been delivered by Edward River Council after early efforts to have a private developer take on the project did not eventuate.
Selling the villas and marketing the project on behalf of council is Deni Real Estate - a local business owned by mother and daughter duo Vicki Sparks and Kate Sparks Lindsay-Field.
Mrs Lindsay-Field said tomorrow’s open day will be a chance for the community to see the long-awaited project, which has been a hot topic in the community since the project began.
And if the soft opening last weekend is anything to go by, she does not expect the two available units to be on the market for very long.
“We‘d had 12 groups of people through with very positive feedback on Saturday, and we also had three private appointments last Friday,” she said.
“They have been mainly locals, but we do want to reach out to people wanting to come to Deniliquin for a new lifestyle.
“We’re calling them villas and not units because of how spacious they are, and it truly is independent living at its best.
“Each of the villas has been designed with accessibility in mind and they have been craftsman built by local builder Bernie Green.
“We invite everyone to come and view them this Saturday from 10am to 2pm.”
Mrs Lindsay-Field said while there have been no official offers on either villa yet, a number of those who went through the homes last week have requested contracts to view.
Both available units are the Booroorban plan, which offer two bedrooms, a full bathroom plus half bath, laundry, kitchen, open living and dining and a garage. They are available for $475,000 each.
“There’s also room for a caravan, and in future stages there will be a community centre constructed within this Edward River Village community.
“Deni Real Estate is pleased to be appointed as the agent working with Edward River Council on this project and we invite people along to see the development taking shape.”
Edward River Mayor Peta Betts was full of excitement when the project started with civil works by Deniliquin company Deni Civil & Construction in September 2022.
She said that excitement has only grown with every new milestone that was ticked off.
“It is absolutely fantastic to see the villas open and to hear the positive feedback,” Cr Betts said.
“I want to acknowledge the wonderful work of Kate and Vicki from Deni Real Estate. They put forward an excellent proposal and, since being appointed by ERC, they have hit the ground running.
“We are also pleased to be able to say the project has so far come in under budget.
“We did have some hiccups early in the project, and I know the cost has been a cause of angst among some in the community.
“To come in under budget is an incredible effort, and is a credit to those working on the project.”
At the time the project was given the green light, stage one of the project was costed at $4.43 million.
Of that, $1 million had been granted to council under round three of the Coalition Federal Government’s Economic Development Project funding stream.
Council CEO Phil Stone said as well as catering to the desires of older members of the community, the project is intended to take the pressure off the demand for family housing in Deniliquin and district.
“The whole idea of these homes is that we provide an option for the older people in our community to move out of the family home, and into a more relaxing and lower maintenance home,” he said.
The idea of a retirement living precinct has been discussed within the community for decades.
There was hope it would be delivered in the late 2000s after Southern Cross Care - the same organisation which delivers the services at Orana - purchased land behind Deniliquin South School in 2008.
Nothing ever came of the organisation’s plans to create more seniors living options in that space.
By 2011 the community was again crying out for a retirement village project to cater for those looking to downsize, but who did not yet require the services of facilities like Orana or Navorina Nursing Home.
The sentiments were echoed by the then Deniliquin Council, and its then Mayor Brian Mitsch said if a private developer could not be found council would be willing to discuss its role in such a project.
“Council had been looking at that kind of development in the town for a few years already, although at alternate sites to where it is placed today,” Mr Mitsch recalled.
“It’s good to see we now have something, and it will be interesting to see how it goes.”
One of the community members who launched that campaign was Judy Bond, who in 2011 wrote a letter to the Pastoral Times pleading with someone to take the lead on the development of a retirement village.
She said it was pleasing to finally see it come to fruition, although lamented it would be too late for her and husband Frank to take advantage of it.
“We are so thrilled that the long overdue, many sagas, retirement village in Deniliquin is finally available to purchase,” Mrs Bond said.
“This town is so behind every other town, large and small, in the region, which have had such facilities for years.
“Those now approaching retirement have the opportunity to downsize to modern, low maintenance living which is located within two blocks of the CBD.
“This development has the potential to boost the Deniliquin’s population with new citizens - working or retired - who are still fit and able, capable of being involved in sport and community events, and interested in volunteering and contributing to our town.
“Twenty years ago we would have loved the opportunity to relocate to such a purpose built facility. Sadly it is too late for us to make this move, and many who campaigned with us then have died before the successful result.
“It has been a long road and many mistakes made along the way.
“Sadly, when sensible decisions and positive moves were finally made to produce this asset for Deniliquin, it was unfortunately almost too late.
“COVID and huge building costs blowouts have caused delays to the project’s progress but it is wonderful now to see this much needed asset for the town come to fruition.
“There is still a long way to go before the town sees a return on this huge expenditure.
“We wish the council all success in the promotion and sale of Edward River Village. If only it had been ready 20 years ago.”
In 2015, after Mr Mitch had left council, the former Deniliquin Council formally progressed plans for the development, making a bid to purchase former railway land in the heart of Deniliquin.
After a number of delays for various reasons - the 2016 merger of Deniliquin and Conargo Shire councils to form Edward River Council included - council started to make real headway in 2017 when it finally secured the block from VicTrack and funding for site connections and preparation was secured.
But it still took a number of years to bed down the details, with the release of concept plans in February 2021 the impetus of what has been developing since late 2022.
Senior journalist