More than 40 aged care residents at a Byron Bay facility have been left in a state of shock with some requiring medical care, after being told they will need to move out and find alternative accommodation.
Feros Care management called an urgent meeting with residents and next of kin with less than 12 hours notice, informing them the facility would soon be closed for redevelopment.
Dianne Brien, whose 95-year-old mother Kate Smorty has been living at the facility for the past five years, said residents were blindsided by the news.
"You cannot just walk in and say to 40 elderly people, right, sorry we're closing down … sorry guys you are all having to go," she said.
"Some were sitting there crying, some were sitting there rocking and shaking their heads.
"It just was heartbreaking."
Exactly when the residents must leave is unclear.
The group was told that legally a notice period of just two weeks was required.
But the facility's management told residents it would work with them "over the coming months."
'Unconscionable' not to let new residents know plans
Byron Shire resident Bill Shanahan helped move his 87-year-old mother from Merimbula, on the New South Wales South Coast, to the Feros Care village at Byron Bay three weeks ago.
He said it was unconscionable that Feros Care management did not think it was appropriate to let him know it had imminent plans for the facility to close.
"If you could choose a way to do something in the worst possible way, this would be it,” he said.
"We've lost our spot in Merimbula and now we are hit with this news.
"Mum is manic, she's 87 and started googling where can I go, where can I go?"
The housing market in Byron Bay is one of the most notoriously expensive in the nation.
As of November 2022, the median house value in Byron Bay was more than $1.47 million, while the median price for units was more than $1 million.
The median rent in Byron Bay was $1,171 per week for a house and $871 for a unit.
Feros vision for region's seniors
Feros Care management issued a statement that the redevelopment, subject to planning consent, would provide a new state-of-the-art community facility for the region's seniors.
Chief executive officer Karen Crouch acknowledged the distress the news had caused.
"We are absolutely committed to residents and families to work with them over coming months," she said.
Ms Crouch said the facility, built in 1990, did not meet the expectations and requirements of modern residential aged care, including clinical spaces.
"Our medication storage, while it is compliant … isn't best practice," she said.
"There are doors that we have to hold, rather than being automatic — these are just things that don't create a really good environment as people age."
Feros legacy
The facility is named after the late George Feros, well-known in the Byron Bay community for walking the streets collecting funds for the aged care service.
He raised more than $180,000 over a period of 20 years.
His daughter, Ruby Feros, said she hadn't been briefed on the redevelopment proposal, but hoped her father's legacy would be remembered in the process.
"It's the care in the name that goes with Feros, that I hope will shine through on this occasion," she said.
The registered charity outlined its plans to redevelop the site into a new "intergenerational community where seniors and younger adults live together in harmony."
Development application plans for the site were yet to be lodged with Byron Shire Council.
