Planning for the future of aged care
Brisbane City Council is planning for the future housing needs of our ageing population as part of our vision for a well-planned and liveable city.
Brisbane is a city that is growing and changing. In some parts of Brisbane in the future, older people may struggle to find housing to suit their needs, so it’s important to plan now.
While some will choose to age in place, our growing senior population means alternative smaller, accessible, lower-maintenance homes or apartments or other purpose-built residential care facilities with liveable design elements need to be available throughout the city.
Council is planning now so that in the future, as a growing proportion of our loved ones age, we will have suitable housing choices to help them retire and age in their local area and maintain connections to friends, family and their community.
Enhancing retirement and aged care housing options
In 2016 the Lord Mayor launched a suite of initiatives to address the challenges that industry faces in providing and building retirement and aged care housing.
As a result, Council is amending the city planning framework (Brisbane City Plan 2014) to offer a more streamlined approach to extending or upgrading residential care and retirement facilities. It will also provide greater encouragement for new facilities in preferred locations and where they meet best practice design requirements.
The amendments will:
· update City Plan’s strategic framework to emphasise the important need our city has to facilitate well-located retirement living and aged care accommodation
· enable the refurbishment of older existing facilities and reuse of existing aged care sites to occur where building heights transition sensitively to surrounding neighbours
· provide for retirement and residential care facilities in low and low medium density zoning where they meet existing height requirements
· increase allowable building height for residential care facilities and retirement facilities in the medium and high density residential zones where specific design criteria are met
· facilitate integration with existing facilities, such as churches, private recreational and sports facilities, health care precincts and educational facilities
· facilitate co-location of small-scale supporting uses in retirement facility and residential care facility developments, such as coffee shops and recreational activities.
Other initiatives
In addition, Council is also undertaking initiatives to:
· give greater consideration of ageing in the drafting of neighbourhood plans
· create a new incentive to reduce the cost of infrastructure charges levied on qualifying aged care and retirement facility developments to encourage more supply
· improve and streamline development assessment processes for aged care facilities.
What this means for you
With the need for retirement and aged care housing options increasing by 50% by 2027, these initiatives will ensure we increase the supply of suitable housing and enable Brisbane residents to retire within their suburb and community.
These initiatives will not only ensure adequate retirement and aged care facilities are available across Brisbane, but they will prioritise best practice design and encourage facilities integrated with their local communities and other uses, such as sport and recreation. Together every suburb has a part to play to ensure we meet the needs of Brisbane’s ageing population.
For more information or to submit comments
· Call Council on (07) 3403 8888
· Visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au and search for ‘Retirement and aged care’