Letters: Retirement village input needed in Cooper's Beach

Cooper's Beach.

The coming consultation meetings being organised by the Far North District Council to seek community input to the new district plan gives the Doubtless Bay community and others the opportunity to present submissions regarding the desirability of establishing a retirement village at Cooper's Beach — we refer to our earlier letter on this subject.

The developer's application has still not been approved, and in fact, council has advised that the proposal needs to be publicly notified despite overwhelming support from our community.

These meetings in Doubtless Bay are to be held on Thursday, at Cable Bay between 11.30am and 3pm and in the Mangonui Hall from 5pm to 7pm. Suggested submission forms regarding the proposed Doubtless Bay Retirement Village will be made available at these meetings.

Alternatively, submissions may made through council's website, but we warn people that this is far from a user-friendly website to negotiate. We would urge everyone interested in the planning process to attend these meetings and have their say.

Incidentally, to our knowledge the working group set up by council to plan how to cater for growth in the age care sector still has no representation from Doubtless Bay. This, in our opinion, is a travesty of justice, and needs to be rectified urgently.

BOB AND JAN VARTAN
Cooper's Beach