By Ryan O’Connell
HOBSONS Bay City Council will be working to improve access for community groups to the Altona Senior Citizens Centre following reports indicating it is severely underused.
A report presented to the council in August shows that only 28 per cent of the centre’s available time is utilised and a number of community groups are keen to make better use of it.
“The Men’s Shed and the U3A (University of the Third Age) have people from all walks of life wanting to continue learning, hosting various speakers and holding various functions, and they are running out of capacity at the Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre. But then we’ve got the Altona Senior Citizens Centre just across the road, and there’s an opportunity to increase our capacity to share. It’s common sense,” said Hobsons Bay mayor Leigh Hardinge.
“There are lot of synergies between the groups age-wise and they have a lot in common, so we’re giving it a whirl and we believe it will have some pretty good outcomes,” he said.
The U3A has also recently finished installing a computer learning hub at the centre, which will be used in weekly sessions by both elderly residents and a group of young Sudanese migrants as part of the new sharing model.
The changes are part of the Hobsons Bay Aging Well Strategy, a plan which outlines improvements to the senior citizen community over the next 10 years. According to the strategy, the number of Hobsons Bay residents over the age of 55 will increase by 84 per cent by 2031.
The strategy has been tailored to reflect the needs of Hobsons Bay’s senior residents following a questionnaire and street interviews, offering them a chance to express their opinions about council plans.
