The ‘Glentarkie’, Boggabri Home for the Aged committee is brimming with excitement as the draft plans have been approved by Narrabri Shire Council to build nine extra units, plus supply extras such as white goods, associated landscape, gardens, roads and fences.

Donna Ausling explained the boundary fences will be acoustic fences to reduce the noise and make the facility a pleasant, private and safe place to live.

This has been made possible by a significant investment.

“It is anticipated that construction will start in October 2023 and will take seven to eight months to complete the build,” deputy general manager, Idemitsu, Boggabri Coal Stewart Dunlop said.

He also said that they, as a company, are very happy to provide ongoing support to the community.

The plans also include a second stage.

Plans showing both stage one – nine units and stage two – seven units. Only stage one will be built in October 2023.

Cr Lisa Richardson said that should a grant or extra funds become available then the basic plans are in place and may only need a little tweak and the committee would be able to start the next stage without starting from scratch again.

Glentarkie units provide affordable accommodation for senior residents of Boggabri.

The current nine units were built on donated land in the early 1970s with funds raised by the community.

The current two blocks consists of nine brick units, two doubles, three twins and the remainder single units.

Each block has a shared laundry and the committee has just updated the washing machines.

When a resident moves out of a unit, it is refurbished and painted as ongoing maintenance and updating of the facilities, which has cost between $7000 and $10,000 per unit.

Last month a unit was upgraded for a new resident.

Glentarkie provides a caring little community and is a good transition for residents who need to downscale from a larger home while still allowing them to maintain their independence.

“We appreciate the support of Boggabri Coal, and the Narrabri Shire Council, we couldn’t have done it without them”, Ron Boxsell said.

The plans will be put on public display this week.

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