Council invites elderly to run their own centre

Members of the Board Games group playing Scrabble

Members of Gosford’s 55+ Leisure Centre are mulling over suggestions they take over the running of the centre.

Members attended a meeting early in May and were presented with two options for the future.

Council called the meeting to discuss a “proposal to change the current arrangements regarding the centre management model”.

One option is for the community to run it and the second option was for an organisation to be approached to run it.

The council said its financial position meant it could no longer run the centre the way it had been running.

Questions from the floor included asking if council could cut back on the days or hours the centre was opened and what would happen to the community bus.

There were no firm answers.

Council said the meeting was only the first step in a long process.

The next step is for members to approach the current centre management if they are interested in being involved in planning the future.

Council said the hall would not be sold off in any council asset sales until and unless a replacement venue was found.

The council is looking for a partner interested in developing land behind the centre and noted in its recent report to the administrator that the senior citizens’ land would be considered at a later date.

The seven parcels in Albany St North, but not including the 50+ hall, are earmarked for a change in zoning that would allow council to sell the land which currently has a dementia centre and childcare facilities operating there.

After the meeting, volunteer Christine Champion spoke about how she felt.

“How do I feel? Council offered us nothing. The aged are not a priority,” she said.

“They forget that many of the elderly in the Gosford are pre-WW2 born, not many were given the opportunity of superannuation, many are without partners, and survive on pensions.

“An extra few $s a week makes a difference.

“I’ve seen it on my kitchen days, people scraping the shrapnel out of their purses for tea and cake, that was in the day when it was only $2.50,” she said.

The next meeting to further discuss a proposal to develop a management committee to oversee the centre’s management will be held on Wednesday, June 16 at 10am.

Merilyn Vale