THE City of Joondalup adopted an age-friendly plan at its council meeting last month.
The City received a $10,000 grant from the State Government in 2016 to establish the plan that supports the inclusion, diversity and contributions of older adults and helps the City respond to the needs of its ageing community.
As well as using feedback from older residents, organisations and service providers, the draft plan is based on the World Health Organisation’s Age-Friendly Cities Policy Framework that maximises opportunities for quality of life across eight areas: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, respect and inclusion, social participation, communication and information, civic participation and employment, and community support and health services.
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READ NOWCr Mike Norman said while the plan addressed the need for suitable housing, the City’s planning policies did not yet have “specific encouragements to embed universal design principles in our new housing stock”.
“Universal design principles include pathway designs, wider doorways, use of ramps, easily accessible bathing facilities and the like,” he said.
“These housing design features help people age-in-place, which is the preference of most in our community, but also assist people with disabilities.
“Suitable housing for an ageing population is very important as there is already a shortage of nursing homes and that shortage is only set to grow in times to come.”
He noted there were plans to investigate these options in 2020.