An Invercargill city councillor is worried about the length of the waiting list for aged care housing.
During yesterday’s infrastructure committee meeting, council infrastructure services manager Erin Moogan presented an activity report which included a snapshot on the situation with the council’s aged care housing.
It stated it had 89 people on the waiting list. There were four housing applications received by the council in December.
Cr Trish Boyle was concerned at the length of the list given no houses were vacant.
She asked if people understood how long it could take.
Property portfolio manager Heather Guise said everyone who applied for housing received feedback from the council about the expected wait time and if they met council’s criteria.
Cr Boyle said the numbers were "quite concerning."
Cr Lesley Soper asked Ms Guise if this was an unusually high figure.
"It has got a little bit higher — but that could be the circumstances at the moment. We are hoping it will come down," Ms Guise said.
She said she asked her team to contact everyone in the list to ensure those houses were still needed.
They would give advice for people around alternative accommodation.
In the meantime, Great South was working on Southland’s Housing Strategy which aimed to provide a clearer understanding of the current and future housing needs of the region.
This would be based on factors such as population, demographic needs, business sector growth and workforce demand.
