News

A new table of all the issues raised by residents this year and the outcomes can be found here

The date is now confirmed as Wednesday 6th November

2-3.30 pm Aura budget reporting
3.30 -5pm  General Residents Meeting 

Also, as noted in a recent email from the village manager

“For anyone who would like to stay on, after the meetings, we have organised to have an open bar with payment by Eftpos on the day (the club does not accept cash). 
The Golf Club has also offered to open the Restaurant for us on that evening. We will need to have a minimum of 30 – maximum of 80 bookings to do this. There will be a limited A la Carte menu available with payment, again, by Eftpos on the day. We will need to take bookings ahead of the event and will have another sign- up sheet available at Reception for this. Tables can accommodate 2-8 persons. If you would like to put a group together, please book a table under one name and specify numbers.

The sign up sheets will be available at Reception from Monday. It is very important that you sign up for these events “

This should be a very enjoyable evening so we hope as many residents as possible will accept the invitation

 

Many thanks to all the residents who have used the site and who have given us useful feedback which has mostly been very positive. Unfortunately however, it has become clear that  this type of site would be difficult to sustain in the long term because of various technical complexities and would still require external commercial support. However an alternative form of communication is being investigated which should avoid these problems. The website will be maintained until the results of this investigation are known and presented at the next meeting of residents on the 6th of November

As the number of residents continues to grow with the opening of Stage 2, it is clear that the cafe area will not have enough space for meetings and other events that are open to everyone. Negotiations have therefore taken place with Aura management for these to be moved to the golf club.  Full details will follow but the dates for the next two such events have been fixed:
– Wednesday 6th November 2-3.30 pm Aura budget reporting followed by General Residents Meeting 3.30-5pm. There will be an option for residents to stay on at the club for a drinks and dinner.
– Wednesday 11th December evening Christmas Dinner

 

 

 

A report of the most recent ARQRV video conference  can be seen here  

It contains information about:
– New financial reporting regulations
– Processes to be followed by operators wishing to close a village
– The results of an appeal to QCAT  about abusive behaviour of a resident
– Misunderstandings about legal status of Village Comparison Documents
– Impact of cohort ageing on the operations of residents committees

 

 

 

Many thanks for all the feedback we’ve received about the website and how it could be improved. This has been very helpful and as a result 2 changes have been made:

• An error in the feedback / contact page has been corrected and it should now work as it was intended.
• All tables have been simplified by removing the ‘Links’ column and transferring the links to the contents column.

We are still keen for any more feedback about the cafe options outlined in the previous news item.

We have recently discussed various possibilities for provision of food and drink services in the café with the village manager. The main options that she has considered are:

Kitchen operation by external commercial provider. Unfortunately, there are few contenders in this space as experience in other retirement villages has been that the potential for running a profitable business is low because of the small customer base. An offer is on the table but is unlikely to be accepted by Aura because the proposed contract would require major modification of the current kitchen and café service area and provision of equipment at Aura’s expense. This would also require this area to partitioned off in a way that would prevent residents from using this space for their other activities. This option has also been discussed with Indooroopilly Golf Club who have declined also because of low estimates of profitability, probably combined with a preference for residents to use their own services at the clubhouse.

Serve yourself coffee machine. This would involve the installation and support by Aura of the sort of machine that is often seen in airport lounges, ie a pod type machine with additional facilities for payment by credit card. Residents would need to be prepared assist in the stocking and simple maintenance of such a machine. The main problem is an estimated cost of about $15,000 which it is hoped Aura would fund. The possibility of a trial of this type of machine is being explored.

Mobile coffee /food service It may be that the increasing volume of business that could result from full occupation of the village would provide attraction for a more regular and comprehensive service than seems possible from the current operator.

Clearly there are no easy solutions for the provision of a service that many residents would like, and which Aura management is keen to support. We have been asked to canvas your views on these options and any others that may come to mind. Please send any opinions or comments via the feedback /contact form page or directly to committee members by any other route.

A number of new Aura documents have been added here

The response of residents to the website continues to be positive but there are a few issues that need to be clarified. A short Q&A document is therefore attached for this purpose.

 

Thus far the majority of responses from residents to the website have been very positive which is pleasing, but two have raised concerns about the possibility of making any personal details public. We understand this concern and are very conscious of the need to not provide any such details in the minutes of meetings that we are obliged to make locally public in the village under the requirements of the Retirement Villages Act and our constitution.

One possible solution to this dilemma might be to limit access to the site to residents who register for this purpose. The technical and other implications of such a development are being investigated.

In the meantime however the page providing links to past minutes has been taken down. Paper copies will remain in the folder in the craft room and digital copies can be provided on request to individual residents

This website has been produced on behalf of the Somerset Retirement Village Residents Committee to facilitate communications and will replace the portal.

At the moment it is just a test project to seek opinions from residents about the value of such a resource and its future potential.

Comments and suggestions for changes / additions are therefore very welcome and can be sent via the Feedback page Contact Form or by any of the more conventional channels.

The trial period will be of seven weeks at the end of which we will ask you all to complete a survey of your opinions, the results of which will be reported at the next General Residents Meeting