The VINEYARD @ LEOPOLD
(near Geelong, Victoria, Australia)
IT’S AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME!
The Scandinavians call retirement villages “Islands of Misery”. It is where people go to die! In forward thinking about our own retirement, we found nothing attractive about anything available in Australia or overseas, so we have designed our own village to provide a lifestyle that we believe will be most attractive to most active retirees throughout the world.
WHAT’S AVAILABLE ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH! No-one should have to lower their standard of living after their working life. Life should be enjoyable, acti y In the whole of the Geelong area and Surf Coast Shire, there is not one high quality lifestyle retirement village. (This statement is no reflection on the standard of accommodation or care provided.) All retirement villages in our region are built in low socio economic suburbs where land is cheaper and so developers can maximize profits. As evidence of our argument, we ask the question: “Do you know of a retirement village that you would like to visit for a Sunday afternoon outing?” We know of none.
While in the USA recently, I visited the largest retirment village in the world. Of course it is in Florida. It has a population of 77,000 retirees. It has every facility you can imagine. For woodworking enthusiasts, I've never seen such a large workshop with every imaginable machine and power tool.
But it falls down because it is full of old people! That is what makes "The Villages" quite artificial!
Our proposal is designed to provide maximum lifestyle for retirees living in a 3 generational community as humans have lived for millions of years. And our proposal is not being created to maximize profits for a developer!
It is interesting that the state is looking very seriously at providing low cost housing for the socially disadvantaged members of the community. If those people were relegated to a “village” in the same locations where Geelong’s retirees have to live, I believe there would be an outpouring of “injustice!”.
So why can’t retirees live in an attractive location along the bay and where they can participate in horticulture, viticulture and tourism? It will be one of the very few if not the only property of its size on the Peninsular that will be financially productive from agriculture, horticulture and viticulture.
GLOBAL WARMING
We are being told that eventually we will have to live “more locally”. For instance we will not be able to bring fruit and vegetables from all over the world. It's crazy that I find in my supermarket garlic from Chile and asparagus from Peru both delivered by Boeing 747. The pollution caused by transport vehicles over long freight distances and costs of fuel won’t allow it. This development will be world’s first to address this problem by growing our own organic fruit and vegetables on site.
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE
A respected British architect on a recent lecture tour in Australia said: “We have to look back to go forward!” That is what we have done. In very early times, people congregated and created villages around places where there was clean water available, where they could grow food, where they could be secure, and the location was attractive. Isn’t that all we want today? It’s the same criteria that we use in selecting a location for one of our proposed villages.
OUR ALTERNATIVE…… IT’S UNIQUE, NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE ANYWHERE!
6 Years research in Australia and overseas has culminated in this concept. We want residents to know each other and find back lost social values: neighbourhood communication, sharing interests and activities, and helping each other. It’s a modern version of many beautiful small very old Southern European villages. It will attract the general community and tourists who will provide wide interaction. There will be no opportunity for boredom! Activities will not be created to keep people artificially busy but rather connect to normal life which will be enhanced by the expected daily influx of tourists. How good is this concept? Everyone who has had it described to them, has said: “Fantastic! Where do I sign up?”
THE SITE:
The site is of approximately 300 acres with frontages to the Portarlington Road, Clifton Avenue and Austin Street, at Leopold. It has a short frontage to Port Phillip Bay. On an adjoining property, a caravan park has been converted into a “retirement village”. We believe the same company has bought up caravan parks around the country and is redeveloping them as “retirement villages”.
ONE FOR EVERY CITY
Eventually we would like to see one of our Vineyard Villages close to each large town and city in Australia and New Zealand ..... in fact everywhere in the world, so that the residents can exchange homes for periods of the year…. A bit like time sharing or home exchange. The potential to roll out this concept is worldwide where there are middle and upper class communities. Whereas councils are currently reluctant to permit retirement villages in rural zone, we believe that we can change that attitude for our developments because of our high horticulture and viticulture component. On a rural zoned site we have secured at Colac, fronting the Princes Highway, Rifle Butts Road and the Lake Colac, we have the full support of the council for rezoning to Special Use for a village of identical concept. We are hoping to make a formal town planning application in 2011.
WHERE DO RETIREES WANT TO LIVE?
In earlier times, retirees lived with their younger generations and were looked after by them for the last years of their lives. That no longer happens unfortunately, so we look for the best alternative. From surveys, very many want to live in a small rural community, with nature around them. They want to stay in the community for the rest of their lives and they don’t want to be isolated from younger generations. If we can’t by regulation have a transgenerational village, then it is paramount that the village be so attractive that young people want to visit the village! Current retirement villages are very unattractive places to visit even for relatives of the residents. The Vineyard @ Leopold will attract the Baby Boomers, particularly farmers (who have never been catered for) and active retirees, local, interstate and international. Residents will be welcomed with their pets. . Space has been allocated for a future care facility on site.
THE CONCEPT IN DETAIL
Each village will be established on an attractive rural property and combined with a vineyard, orchard, and horticulture… an organic farm. Everything to be planted on the estate will be edible. Agapanthus along the roads will be replaced with rhubarb and artichokes. All the produce will be shared by the residents. Excesses will be sold at the Sunday market in the Piazza. If residents wish, they can participate in the rural activities on the estate. There will be permanent staff managing the horticulture and viticulture.
AT LEAST 3 BOTTLES OF WINE EVERY WEEK!
Attached to the sale of each lot will be an entitlement to the produce from 50 grape vines. It should be sufficient to make 3 bottles of wine for every week of the year. Residents can drink it, give it away, or sell it at the cellar door. We envisage family and friends enjoying fruit and grape picking weekend parties! If you have no interest in wine, you can sell your entitlement at the annual auction.
Professor Duncan Mc Gillevery of Deakin University, Waurn Ponds Estate is enthusiastic about a substantial involvement in the vineyard and winery and even offered to hold classes at Leopold to train residents and outsiders in managing the vines and the production of still and sparkling wine (using the old methods). We will have plenty of hands to turn the bottles daily!
A PIAZZA
The focal centre of the estate will be a piazza with a chateaux, great dining hall, a community facility including an extensive library and some boutique accommodation primarily for visitors of residents. (This saves the need for guest accommodation in the residences on the estate.)
Around the piazza, there will be a number of artisans’ studios with residences above, and some specialty shops. We want a French baker (fresh baguettes delivered each morning!), and a European deli. We have planned a bistro/ corner store/ coffee lounge / bar. Just like you find in little European villages, it’s the place where people will meet.
THE NOBLE HOUSE
A day spa including a hydrotherapy pool, all open to the local community and visitors. We are keen to include a medical clinic so that people wanting to get off medications can go thru a medically supervised thirty day process of eating only fresh fruit and vegetables. If you want to know more about this "treatment" try to find the documentary titled "Simply Raw". There is a lot on inforamtion about it on the net. Pretty amazing stuff!
THE PEACE HOUSE.
Every European village is located around the church! Our church will be what we call the “Peace House”.
THE CRAFT WORKSHOPS
Residents and local members of the surrounding community will be able to work with wood, steel, slumped glass, photography, pottery etc.
GREEN, ECO-FRIENDLY AND SUSTAINABLE
It will be an outstanding example of eco sensitive development. With water a critical issue everywhere now, we will collect rainwater, minimize the use of water, and recycle it all, with the treatment of effluent by EPA approved worm farms. All treated effluent including 80% of all household waste will be converted to A class water for toilet flushing, and watering the horticulture and viticulture. We believe that the estate can be carbon positive!
TRANSPORT
We are working on the production of 2 seater electric scooters with enclosed stylish bodies. These can replace cars for getting around the estate. To further reduce the number of cars on the estate, we propose a vehicle pool of serviced cars that residents can hire at a minimal cost. Again how crazy is it that garden staff on the golf links estate that we live in drive around the estate on public roads in their electric golf buggies and similar yet our state road authority won't allow us to go shopping in one!
LOCATION…. IN A FARM ZONE
To create a highly productive farm, it has to be located in a rural/farm zone! This property which probably returns less than $20,000 a year would earn more than $2,000,000 only if it can be operated as our type of retirement village!
State Government and Municipal Councils have to realize and accept that rural/farm properties of less than 100 acres in locations like the Bellarine Peninsular will never be viable farms. If you ask every real estate agent in this area, you will be told that all rural properties are purchased for one of two reasons: as lifestyle residential properties or to be held for capital gain. These properties all change hands for in excess of $1,0000.000 and will be onsold eventually to other millionaires for the same reasons. Therefore we argue that the Farm Zone is not the appropriate zoning for this location!
With our concept, there will be no infrastructure costs for the Council, substantial rate revenue to the Council, many new jobs during construction and on-going, and it will bring many more tourists to the area!
Councils always require retirement villages to be close to shopping centres and hospitals! If you think seriously about this, you will realize that no-one living in a retirement village no matter where it is will walk to do their shopping. They will either use their cars, or the village community bus that does a regular trip to the shopping centre.
As for the hospital, the writer lives in Torquay, has a serious medical problem but does not have to live near a hospital. If you live in Torquay and need to go to a hospital, an ambulance from the local station or from Geelong will take you to geelong Hospital. Most active retirees are in fact very healthy and are not concerned about how close they live from a hospital. Retirees are more interested in an attractive location for their living, and the councils should respect this. There are two recently built retirement villages in Torquay and both are far from a hospital. At Portarlington there is a new retirement village being developed.... not near a hospital. Residents aren't concerned that they are not living near a hospital.
We want this village to be the flagship for a chain of similar ultimate lifestyle vineyard retirement villages. We designed it that way!
THE DETAIL (according to the legend on the site plan:)
1 THE ART GALLERY With residents downsizing in their homes, they will not have space for all the art they have collected so we propose an art gallery where privately owned art can be displayed and art produced by the residents can be displayed and sold.
2 ARTISANS’ STUDIOS Surrounding the Piazza, there will be a number of studios where resident artisans can display and sell the productions. Residents will reside above their studios.
3 FRENCH BAKERY PATISSERIE We have already recruited an artisan baker to provide baguettes for breakfast in the European tradition!
4 DELICATESSEN Our desire is to find a European small goods maker.
5 BISTRO / BAR / COFFEE SHOP In every little European village there is a location around the square where people congregate for a low cost meal, a chat, a drink or just to read the paper. We will provide the same facility.
6 CHATEAU / BOUTIQUE RESIDENTIAL HOTEL Rather than construct a community facility like those at all other retirement villages, our facility will be in the form of an hotel with a large lounge area, an extensive library and a games room. There will be a small number of theme bedroom suites to attract visitors of residents and tourists. With this facility, residents will not have to have that extra bedroom in their homes!
7 “GREAT HALL” DINING ROOM This is the “community dining room” where residents and visitors can socialize over fabulous food.
8 COMMUNITY STORE The village will have its own organic and bulk low cost food store. (We envisage an overseas visitor tourist program where non-English-speaking tourists will be able to stay at the hotel while learning conversational English while socializing with the residents. This is a successful program “stolen” from a village in Spain!)
9 GYMNASIUM/ HALL This is a multi use building which will include a commercial standard kitchen where residents can prepare preserved foods to be sold at the cellar door / community store, and the proceeds come back to the residents. As is the practice in some villages in Italy, men of the village will prepare their own meal for the night of socializing without the women!
10 PIAZZA / WEEKEND MARKET PLACE: Life will revolve around the Piazza which will be where a regular weekend market will be set-up.
11 THE COURTYARD This will be a green area for relaxed socializing between residents and visitors.
12 MOTEL This will provide low cost accommodation primarily for resident’s guests and WOOFERS (tourists who travel the world and work in exchange for free accommodation at organic farms.
13 “TOWN HALL” BODY CORP. ADMIN. There will be a number of bodies corporate that will have their office at the “Town Hall”
14 PARKLAND: The developer is prepared to offer a large acreage to the Greater City of Geelong, as a contribution to the community at large. This will ensure that the waterfront to the bay will always be “owned” and available to the community.
15 GREAT EASTERN WINERY The winery will be where the grapes from the estate will be processed and the residents taught to look after their vines and produce award winning wines and sparkling wines made by the traditional method.
16 BREWERY / DUKE OF ALBANY PUB Again residents interested in beer will be taught the making of traditional methods of beer and cider production. Both the winery and brewery will be tourist attractions.
17 CAR POOL GARAGE One of the bodies corporate will run the car pool.
18 CRAFT CENTRE / MEN’S SHED This facility will be similar to the House of Guilds at Geelong College where the community outside the school can use the facility. This facility will provide the equipment for many residents’ hobbies.
19 FARM EQUIPMENT SHED The village will own farm machinery and other equipment that can be pooled and hired by the residents.
20 BIO DIESEL POWER GENERATOR We are seriously researching the possibility of the village producing its own electricity by bio diesel generation and selling the excess to the grid. We are also excited about the possibility of using free energy electric generators powered by permanent magnets.
21 WATER STORAGE FOR ESTATE TOILETS
22 STORMWATER SETTLING POND. We are aware that there is a problem of stormwater from Leopold draining through the property to the bay with extensive pollution occurring. The developer will offer to treat the water through settling ponds and bio filter reed beds, retaining some of the water for watering vines and fruit trees / vegetables, and for toilet flushing throughout the village.
23 WATER STORAGE FOR VITICULTURE & HORTICULTURE Water from the last settling pond (after reed bed filtration) will be pumped (solar powered) to a tank for gravity feed to the viticulture and horticulture.
24 LAWN BOWLING GREEN This will be a competition standard facility open to the public also.
25 TENNIS COURTS Again the facility can be open to the wider community.
26 PETANQUE PITCH
27 CHILDRENS’ FUN PARK This is a very important part of the village because it will provide children with an incentive to visit their grand parents living on the estate
28 EXISTING FRESH WATER POND / DAM This could be seeded with yabbies.
29 APPROVED CARAVAN PARK / RESORT The development will include the facility already approved by the City of Greater Geelong. By attracting tourists, it provides residents with social interaction.
30 PARKLAND FOR RESTORATION This area has been designated by the City of Greater Geelong for restoration by the developer.
31 WATERWAY This is the existing drain for stormwater from Leopold.
32 MARSH FOR RESTORATION This is an area for ground restoration.
33 LEOPOLD SMALL BOAT CLUBHOUSE The developer offers a storage building, clubhouse, and beach launching of small sailboats and fishing boats to the community of Leopold.
34 SMALL BOAT RAMP This can be a constructed ramp or just beach launching
35 EXISTING DAM
36 STREET ORGANIC POTAGER Each street in the development will have its own potager where residents can grow vegetables. The ground will be prepared each season by the horticulture and viticulture body corporate staff. (Removes the back-braking digging by older residents!)
37 COMMUNITY ORGANIC POTAGER There will be a larger community owned potager where there may be organic greenhouse facilties for tomato growing etc. Throughout the development there will be extensive areas planted to fruit trees (predominantly pomegranates, figs and apples), each residential lot will have 2 fruit trees, and passionfruit or kiwi fruit along boundary fences. Fruit trees, artichokes and rhubarb will line the nature strips of all the streets. All the produce will be shared by the residents.
38 CHAPEL / PEACE HOUSE This building to be constructed on one of the lakes will be a place for nourishment of the spirit!
39 THE OASIS / VILLAGE GREEN This large area of parkland with water will be a relaxing area for quiet exercise, with walkways through a forest of different varieties of bamboo, again more food for residents as well as material for furniture making in the craft centre!
40 BANDSTAND We envisage regular concerts as is often the case at other wineries throughout Australia and overseas. These of course will be open to the general public.
41 THE VINYARD Every residential lot will back onto grape vines or fruit trees, with residents responsible for their care and maintenance.
42 “THE NOBLE HOUSE”, THE DAY SPA. This tourist attraction will provide vino-therapy, thalasso therapy and oxygen hyperbaric regenerative therapy, and will be housed in a unique building modeled on an old Tonkin Palace we visited in Vietnam.
CONCLUSION: This is a world first development to provide retirees with a lifestyle equal or better than they have been used to throughout their earlier lives. They will enjoy better health because they will be happy through an active life and an enjoyable social life developed on the estate and through interaction with local and international visitors. The development will make a very substantial positive contribution to the wider local community and solve a number of infrastructure problems for the City of Greater Geelong.
This development is a win – win for everyone and therefore the proponents seek to have the support of the community at Leopold and the Council of the City of Greater Geelong and the Government of the State of Victoria.
If you are a property developer anywhere in the world and looking for a new exciting project with great profit potential, consider this concept. There is an ever growing market of retirees none of which are really catered for. If you have a property of at least 100 acres on the outskirts of a town, and would like to see it developed responsibly, get in touch with us.
If the idea of you retiring at a village based on this concept, again get in touch. We are determined to get a vineyard village approved. Australia is a great place to retire to and its very cheap to live here. So far, no big earth quakes, no tornadoes, no tsunamies and no terrorism!
Contact us on thearchitect@internode.on.net
© Geoffrey Fulton AGIT ARAIA , Architect.