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Russell Hopkins was out for a walk one day in Blenheim when he decided he might have found the perfect spot to have a shared home for over-65s.
Hopkins is a member of Abbeyfield Marlborough, a group that’s been trying to bring a shared flat-style home to Blenheim for the better part of six years.
But they’re yet to get the idea over the line. That’s not for lack of trying, but because they haven’t been able to find the land.
The group behind the idea this year submitted to the Marlborough District Council’s annual plan, requesting the council subdivide off half of Murphys Creek Reserve in Springlands.
The reserve, on the corner of Horne Pl and Kingwell Dr, is owned by the council. It was planted in the early 1990s with oak, maple, cedars and sequoias. It had a small playground with a slide, swings and two seesaws.
“I just happened to walk past there one day, and thought, yeah OK, there’s a lot of land here,” Hopkins said.
“I thought, possibly, we could use that land if we approach council.”
Abbeyfield was a volunteer-based charity with a dozen houses across the country. The home pitched for Blenheim would house about 12 senior citizens.
The model was said to fill the growing affordability gap many older people faced in housing themselves adequately.
The purpose-built dwelling would have a volunteer management committee and a live-in housekeeper. Rent would be kept affordable, and no capital contribution would be required.
SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF
Abbeyfield Marlborough chair Graeme Faulkner, left, and project manager Russell Hopkins, in 2018.
Off the back of the annual plan submission, the council agreed to investigate the idea.
Hopkins said this felt like the closest the group had got to finding a piece of land.
It meant on Tuesday, the assets and services committee was expected to make a decision on whether to publicly consult the community.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF
The ‘homeshare’ idea enables elderly to live in their own homes with the assistant of a house mate. (First published January 2021)
A report prepared for the meeting said while the proposal was positive in wanting to provide housing for senior citizens, losing reserve land had some implications.
While there was no “documented information” on the extent of the use of the land, based on observations by contractors it received “infrequent use”, the report said.
The reserve only had two properties immediately on its boundary. Animal control had advised the council subdividing the land could have a negative impact on dog owners who used the park.
MAIA HART/LDR
Abbeyfield Marlborough says they will need about half the 5000m² reserve to build the house.
However, the report noted the reserve, at about 5080m², was larger than other neighbourhood reserves around Blenheim, so a smaller area of land could still meet requirements.
Hopkins said he had not spoken to anyone who lived in the area about their thoughts on the proposal.
“But the other thing is, together working with council, there’s 5000m² there, and we only need 2500m²,” he said.
MAIA HART/LDR
The reserve, in Springlands, is said to be infrequently used.
“Could council look at repurposing that land for those residents around there? They could get some ideas from them (residents) for the 2500m² that Abbeyfield doesn’t need.
“If you get the local community involved, there may be other groups there that would like to do something.
“So give us your ideas, because it’s going to take Abbeyfield probably five years, minimum, to get the funding, get the design, get to be known, and get the support for materials and suppliers. So it’s a good time to go out and talk to the community.
Braden Fastier/Stuff
Abbeyfield House residents Willy Steward, left, and Phyl Duncan in 2019 in their Stoke home, the first Abbeyfield in New Zealand.
“It’s nice in there, there’s some mature trees in there. We’re pretty sure we could get a house build in there without greatly affecting them.”
Abbeyfield Marlborough had previously expressed interest in surplus land on Hospital Rd.
The 6-hectare block, on the hospital’s eastern side, was sold by the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board to Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD) for $4 million last year.
Dasha Kuprienko
An Abbeyfield house in Queenstown.
The Hospital Rd block had been considered surplus since 2001, but the sale had languished in the statutory process. The health minister approved the sale in May 2020.
Several groups had been eyeing up the vacant block for years, mainly in agreement it should be converted to some sort of community housing.
Hopkins said he did not know what was happening with that land, so the group started looking elsewhere.
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