The unanimous rejection by residents living in the village in the city of Albury, 554km from Sydney, of a 32% fee increase for seniors in assisted living apartments and an 18% rise for unit owners has led the business to take them to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

Resident Ian Anderson, who will represent residents at the hearing expected to take place in Albury next month, said the proposed fee increase had “shocked and hurt frail members of our community”.

He said the 32% rise would affect 30 people, while the 18% increase would apply to 238 residents.

Residents rejected the proposed budget in May and on 1 August issued a special resolution rejecting RetireAustralia’s plan to updated the emergency monitoring system.

“[Residents are] charged $1,308 a month but that’s rising up to $1844 a month,” said Ian. “They’ve decided to turn them from a serviced department into 80% of the pension and it means that pensioners are no longer able to live or exist there.”

“Never, not in the history of the place from the late 1980s, has something like this happened. They’re taking this to court – there’s never been a time when we couldn’t negotiate something.”

RetireAustralia said it was in the process of seeking an “alternative solution” to the new monitoring system and “will keep residents updated”.

The Brisbane-based business, owned by NZ Super and Infratil, said it had seen a 60.8% rise in repairs and a 45.6% increase in the cost of utilities. To help the residents, RetireAustralia has increased its contribution to the village budget by 33%.