Hooray for our home

Veterans welcome the redevelopment of their tired home, says Andrea Jutson
Ex-servicemen Albert Martin and Tommy Sorley don't grumble about their accommodation - it's better than they had during World War II. However, their base at Ranfurly Veterans Home in Three Kings is aged and conditions are cramped. When Ranfurly Trust took it over in 2003, it inherited a $750,000 deferred maintenance bill and a leaky roof from previous owner the Patriotic and Canteen Funds Board. If resource consent is granted, the 1950s' accommodation blocks will be replaced with a new building on a corner of the 2.8ha site. Trust chief executive Bob Storey says modern rest homes have larger rooms with ensuites. "Daughters or grand-daughters bring their fathers here sometimes because their fathers have always said they want to go to Ranfurly. "But, sometimes, they're quite shocked when they see what it's like," says Mr Storey. "We've got to provide the same standard of residential care as everyone else." As well as a residential care wing, a four-storey retirement village comprising 150 apartments will be built where the existing blocks are now, on Warren Rd. Mr Storey says the home and hospital has been running at break-even since it opened. There are about 70,000 Commonwealth veterans in New Zealand, half of whom are veterans of World War II. This means that by 2020, half of the ex-servicemen will be gone, and the home will no longer be able to afford to keep going. The answer: open a retirement village in partnership with Retirement Assets, which will bring in more profits and also cater for Auckland's ageing population. "The village will be for everyone, not just for veterans," says Mr Storey. The on-site hospital will move into the new aged care facility. Rather than the current 140 beds, it will have about 60. Problems faced by Vietnam War-era returned servicemen, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol dependencies, depression and complications from Agent Orange and nuclear testing fallout, will also be treated as younger veterans come to Ranfurly. The original 1903 building at the centre of the grounds - opened by Governor Lord Ranfurly as a hostel for Boer War veterans - will be given a facelift inside and out. Some of the home's neighbours have expressed concerns about the height of the apartment buildings, which the trust has agreed to reduce. Mr Storey says the buildings won't be any higher than the existing hospital, and the elderly residents will not generate much extra traffic. The trust also promises to keep as many of the site's trees as possible. "We value the trees on our site and they will be protected if they can be," Mr Storey says. Funds are being sought from the Government. A resource consent hearing is due in June or July. The trust hopes to begin building early next year.