On Thursday, June 16 the sod was turned on the new retirement village project that has been brought about by Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care.

The Glen will be the second retirement community opened by SCCAC in Bega, after the great success of its first Bega project, The Oaks Country Village on Tarraganda Lane.

Works have started on The Glen, located on East Street Glen Mia, to meet the demand for retirement living with 42 villas projected when once all stages have been completed.

The Glen will comprise predominantly of two-bedroom independent living villas, along with recreational facilities in the village community hall, community gardens, games, activity areas, as well as barbecue facilities.

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Chief executive officer of SCCAC Matt Sierp said The Glen would add to the organisations ability to provide "much needed" retirement living accommodation within the Bega Valley community.

The organisation has been providing care to more than 100 residents living independently in their own homes through their range of in-home care services.

"As well as providing activity spaces and resident committees, wellbeing services will also remain a focus in our community.

"We want to ensure residents can access support care and services when needed and will also be providing a bus service for trips to town if required," Mr Sierp said.

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Chairman of the SCCAC board Phil Moffit said the project had been a long time coming, with the organisation having purchased the land around 20 years ago.

"I've got to admit that for a few years we didn't really know what we'd do with it, but the growth spurt that Bega and our Valley has had in the last eight or nine years in particular, led us to think there was room for another retirement village in Bega.

"It's just amazing how much it's changed in the last couple of years with the demand for more land and more housing."

He said SCCAC had always been a community-based organisation and was never a "profit-orientated group".

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One of the original board members, Edna Duncanson OAM was in attendance the day of the sod turning.

She said the original committee comprised three members of Bega Municipal Council, (now Bega Valley Shire Council) including herself as well as citizens representatives from the community.

She said the idea grew from the Bega and District Nursing Home Auxiliary and the bulk of the fundraising efforts came from the auxiliary catering for events such as balls and dances.

She said Hillgrove House was fully fitted out with curtains and bed sheets sewn by the auxiliary.

"We bought the material from government stores," she said.

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Ms Duncanson now lives at the Oaks Country Village and said she was very happy with the location and with the arrangement she was able to make when she signed on with SCCAC.

The build has been allocated to South Coast company Zauner Construction. Managing director Garry Zauner said the company specialised in major construction projects in regional areas and had worked on projects from the Illawarra down to the Victorian border.

"We love to work in the regions and improve the outcomes for communities," he said.

Completion of the first 28 villas has been anticipated by July 2023, with the final stage set to commence as soon as practical.

For more information call (02) 6492 7770 or email retirement@sccac.org.au.

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