A decision on a proposed new retirement village in Oamaru is expected to be made next week.
The Waitaki District Health Services Trust (WDHS) put forward a proposal in July to build a retirement complex, which would include 40 rest-home care beds and cost more than $15 million. With the public consultation phase having finished at the start of this month, the Waitaki District Council is to decide on Tuesday if the proposal should go ahead.
The WDHS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the council, and council chief executive Michael Ross said the council had been ''delighted'' that public submissions on the idea had been overwhelmingly positive. Next week's decision on whether to establish two new council-controlled organisations (CCOs) to manage and operate the development represented ''an important stage'' in the development of the proposal.
''Should council reconfirm its support for the proposal and establishment of the new companies, further work will be undertaken by Waitaki District Health Services.
''It is likely that this will involve directors returning to council for a number of further decisions on the proposal in the new year as part of the 2014-15 annual plan and possibly the 2015-25 long-term plan.''
Further decisions on possible council investment in infrastructure services for the project remained to be clarified, he said.
''We expect that these decisions will be helped clarified by work undertaken by Waitaki District Health Services over the coming months and further discussed with the community, as required.''
