The $106 million Blue Haven Bonaira aged care and retirement village in Kiama on the NSW South Coast is the single largest construction project by a local Council in Australia in living memory – yet it appears that the development has hit a dead end.
Completed $50 million over budget in 2019, Blue Haven Bonaira has 59 independent living units in four buildings, and a state-of-the art 134-bed residential-care home with two dedicated dementia wings. In addition, the Council owns and operates independent living complexes on Terralong and Thomson Streets, Kiama.
Kiama Municipal Council’s CEO Jane Stroud, who took up the position halfway through 2021, on Tuesday told councillors and the public it is millions of dollars of debt in a report on the council and its aged care business.
“The businesses in their current operating states, without immediate and sustained correction are not sustainable,” she said.
Jane Stroud took over as CEO of Kiama Municipal Council last year. (Supplied: Kiama Municipal Council)
In a report, the CEO said Blue Haven Bonaira had a number of “building defects” as a result of insufficient planning with residents concerned about “noise, shared spaces and lack of policies to enable harmonious living.”
Blue Haven Bonaira is also operating at a loss through the payment of overtime, agency usage, temporary staffing and the hiring of casuals due to a critical staff shortage with 26 vacancies for the 35 care service staff.
The CEO questioned whether the Council should be owning and operating the business. The report also stated an upcoming audit of aged care facilities, which, if it failed, would result in costly sanctions that the Council could not afford.
“The key point the report I’ve put to Council has made says the financial sustainability of the residential aged care component is trending financially down,” she said.
She added she was in the process of separating the finances of the general Council and the Blue Haven business in order to get a better understanding of the Council’s overall financial position.
Kiama councillors voted unanimously to address the municipality’s financial crisis.
