Rest assured at Stanbury Park
Cindy Preller
WITH a massive need for retirement villages in the city, a new retirement village is taking shape in South End.
Once completed, Stanbury Park retirement village will consist of 65 cottages of different sizes that are being developed by the Echo Foundation.
Retiree Alasdair Mackay, 82, and his wife, Patsy, 83, moved into their cottage at Stanbury Park in November last year after the upkeep of their four bedroom family home in Framesby became too much.
"We decided to sell the home, as we didn't need all that space anymore. Our children and grandchildren live overseas.
"The waiting list for some of the other retirement homes in the city can be anything between three and seven years long with more than a thousand people on the list," Alasdair said.
Residents at Stanbury Park purchase a life right to live in the cottages and should their own or that of their spouse's health deteriorate, they are guaranteed admission to the Echo Foundation's frail care facility and sick bay on the premises, at reduced rates.
Retirees have a qualified nurse available on call for 24 hours of the day, which the Mackay couple made use of for the first time recently when Alasdair had injured his eye.
"We have a nurse who checks our blood pressure in the community hall regularly. On Mondays we have a trainer who does exercises with us. We also play darts or table tennis there. The residents who have already moved in are all lovely people. We are a very sociable crowd," Patsy said.
The couple have been married for 58 years and say they feel safe and secure in their new home.
Around the corner from the Mackays lives another retired couple, Keith Yates, 81, and his wife Julie. Keith, who has lived a colourful life in Zimbabwe having once worked at the Kariba Crocodile Farm, said Stanbury Park was hopefully the couple's last move. "When I walk into my front door, I think to myself 'we got this right' and that's it," Yates said.
RE/MAX Independent Properties Walmer broker and manager Christo Slabbert said buying a Life Right into Stanbury Park is "basically buying peace of mind".
The Echo Foundation Life Right model at Stanbury Park entails that a total of 50% of the original purchase price is paid back to the purchaser or purchaser's estate if they decide to leave the retirement village to live elsewhere, if the last surviving spouse moves into frail care or the last surviving spouse passes away.
Entry age to live in Stanbury Park is 60 years and older, and in the case of marriage at least one spouse must be over 60 years old.
Remax does the exclusive marketing for all the phases of Stanbury Park, which sells from R799000 for two-bedroomed cottages of 84m² with bigger units of up to 125m² still available.
