Garden Village celebrated the grand opening of the beautiful Banksia Apartments on 29 September 2022. Residents and dignitaries joined the award winning BESIX Watpac team and the Garden Village community to attend the event held at The Banksia Garden Village, Port Macquarie.
The event was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate a new era at Garden Village. Phyllis Goodwin, Garden Village Resident, Jack Walton Site Manager at BESIX Watpac and Sarah Ogilvie, Retirement Living Manager snipped the ceremonial ribbon to officially open new independent living apartments.
Guests included Mr Pat Conaghan MP for Cowper, Mr David Gillespie MP for Lyne, Lesley Williams MP for Port Macquarie and Port Macquarie-Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson. Garden Village acknowledged the $5.2 million towards the development from the federal government’s Building Better Regions Fund.
“The Banksia is a stunning contemporary and special retirement living environment that enables residents ongoing independence and the ability for services to be delivered directly to them helping them live their best life,” said Craig Wearne CEO
Andrew Walmsley, Chair of Garden Village thanked the Garden Village residents. “The most important people here today are our residents. Your support was vital for the Banksia to proceed, we are indebted to you especially to our residents that lived on the site where the building is. It was their home and they gave it up for this project to proceed. We really want to thank you for that.”
Highlights of the build include a large central skylight allowing natural light into the centre of the building, high quality finishes in the apartments, generous and well-designed common areas, treatment rooms and an outdoor courtyard. The Banksia is completely energy self-sufficient, with a 99kw Solar System installed consisting of 270 panels installed on the roof and a 303kw/h battery power storage system.
BESIX Watpac NSW Northern Region Manager, Amos Frankel said, “I am truly proud what our project team has achieved in the past 18 months and the close working relationship we have with Garden Village and our subcontractors.” The Banksia project achieved 7.8% Indigenous participation during the build and the majority of contractors for this build were local, helping employment, growth and opportunities on the mid north coast of NSW. “Not only do these partnerships afford us the chance to once again deliver world-leading ageing in place environments, but gives us the opportunity to deliver on our values and hold ourselves accountable for excellence,” added Mr Frankel.
The thirty five new Banksia Apartments increases independent living occupancy at Garden Village which already has fifty two contemporary Cascades Apartments and 167 comfortable Classic Units. The new Wellbeing Centre and Cyber Hub is accessible for all and supports a whole of person approach to wellness.
Pictured in the ribbon ceremony: Right to Left
- Steve Zappia – Marchese Partners
- David Gillespie Federal Member for Lyne
- Tim Everson – Garden Village Board
- Pat Conaghan Federal Member for Cowper
- Murray Turnham – Garden Village Board
- Amos Frankel – BESIX Watpac
- Glen Triggs – Commonwealth Bank Australia
- Mike Bohlscheid – Principle Project Management
- Phyllis Goodwin Garden Village Resident
- Leslie Williams MP Member for Port Macquarie
- Jack Walton – BESIX Watpac
- Sarah Ogilvie – Retirement Living Manager
- Andrew Walmsley – Garden Village Chair
- Peta Pinson Mayor – Port Macquarie Hastings Council
- Craig Wearne – CEO Garden Village
