The Vincent Community Board could look at giving land to fast-track the development of an aged-care facility, board member Stu Millis suggested yesterday.
Mr Millis told the board demand for such a facility was ''very high'' and there needed to be some commitment by the board and the Central Otago District Council before any proposal got off the ground.
If the board gave land for a full-care facility, the value of the land could be used as a lever to attract more funding, he said.
Then some council-owned land north of the Molyneux netball courts could be sold to a developer for a retirement village and facilities.
''If this was done, the project could start quite soon and while this was being built, the council could look at releasing the land around the [Alexandra] golf course.
''This would take three to five years to release and be sold to a developer, so it would be more prudent to start the project on council-owned land.''
Board chairwoman and district councillor Clair Higginson said any discussion along those lines would pre-empt a meeting to consider registrations of interest for a council-owned block of land.
Registrations of interest for the 11.1ha of land, on the northern edge of Alexandra, next to Dunstan Rd and Molyneux Estate, close on May 15.
It was important to build up a picture of what people wanted in relation to aged-care facilities in the district, Cr Higginson said.
She thought some of the developers who recently indicated they were considering retirement villages might register their interest in the council land.
Cr Barrie Wills said he believed the main problem was a shortage of dementia care beds in the district.
In inviting people to register their interest in the block, the council said development proposals should deliver positive town planning outcomes, growth for Alexandra, enhancement of the town and provide a fair market return to the council from the land.
