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 In 1992, Peter Dickson envisioned a haven for gay, lesbian and transgender retirees. Now, 16 years later, that dream is edging closer to reality. Reg Domingo reports.
It was in 1992, at a dinner party, that the idea first entered Peter Dickson’s mind.
“I was having a discussion with one of my friends and we we’re saying, ‘We’re in our 30s now, but what are we going to do when we are older?’” Peter tells SX.
Mindful of the fact that they weren’t going to be young forever, the men began discussing the idea of a retirement village for gay people. It was a radical concept at the time and some might have even said unfeasible.
‘Wouldn’t that be something?’ the men thought. But the idea was filed away as quickly as it was raised.
That is, until 2002, when Peter, having just entered his 40s and more mindful about his future, began to look into the matter further.
By that stage, he had heard of similar developments that had sprung up overseas, while here in Australia, there were faint rumblings of intent.
“I just thought to myself, ‘Is anyone going to do this or not?” he recalls. “A lot of people had talked about it and yes, there is a lot involved.” So Peter, who is based in Yarraville, Victoria, decided to make the project his own.
For the next six years, Peter, a professional chef by trade, would hold dozens of meetings, take part in numerous site inspections, be the subject of several briefing sessions and be involved in countless discussions. He would meet councillors, town planners, real estate agents, mayors, residents, businesspeople, contractors, designers, engineers, stakeholders, solicitors and conveyancers. He would travel all over regional Victoria, in search of a site, from Daylesford to Massendon Ranges. Until finally, he settled on a small town, by the Werribee River, 48km northwest of Melbourne.
And it is here, in the town of Ballan in the Moorabool Shire where Peter, now 48, will build a village catering to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, more than 16 years after it was first mooted among his dinner companions.
Billed as an Australian first, ‘Linton Estate’ (so named after Peter’s mother’s maiden name), will feature 120 single-storey 2/3 bedroom units. Built on a 7.5ha site, it will include all the trappings of a well-heeled resort: tennis court, bowling green, open-air theatre and a multi-million dollar leisure centre that will house a swimming pool, spa, sauna, gymnasium, café, restaurant, piano room, business centre and beauty parlour. Serviced by a mini-bus and 24-hour emergency, the estate also features a strong focus on environmental sustainability with grey water systems, a storm water lake and creek, water tanks and solar heating panels. A separate nursing home, medical centre and hostel is also on the cards.
“I have invested well and was able to bring this dream into fruition,” says Peter, who has since quit working full-time to concentrate on the estate. “There are a lot of lonely people out there, and older people are the history of Australia. I wanted Linton Estate to be different to other retirement facilities.”
One would think that building a retirement community for queers in a small country town would only further marginalise its tenants. But Peter, who has always been upfront about the nature of the project, says that the majority of the townsfolk of Ballan have been nothing but overwhelmingly supportive. One elderly heterosexual couple, who are descendants of one of Ballan’s founding families, has even expressed interest in purchasing a unit.
“You’re never going to get people 100 per cent happy,” Peter says. “And at Ballan, yes, there was a small group that didn’t like the idea. But 99 per cent of the town said, “Look if that’s all they’ve got to whinge about, then those people need to get a life.”
Moorabool Shire Mayor, Diane McAuliffe, says that Linton Estate will be good for the town of Ballan, which has a population of less than 2,500.
“Everybody, as they get older wants to be in a secure and comfortable place and I think this will do that,” McAuliffe tells SX.“And from a planning perspective, he ticked all the right boxes. As far as I’m concerned, it’s on the right map.”
Now that a site has been chosen, Peter says the next step will be is to finalise the project’s design. He expects construction to begin mid-2009.
“It’s a case of putting myself in the same situation as a lot of people,” he says. “And this is what we talked about at the dinner party. Whether we’re in relationships or we’re single, we want to be surrounded by friends. I’ve been very lucky and I could have lived comfortably. But it’s a case where I want to leave a legacy when I go that other people can benefit from over generations. And I want our community to be proud of what we have.”
GAY GHETTO FOR SENIORS?
News of a planned retirement community for GLBT people has renewed talk about segregation and assimilation. Will a GLBT retirement village create another gay ghetto?
According to Dr Chris Chamberlain, Director of the Centre for Applied Research at RMIT University, the answer is no.
Chamberlain, who is the co-author of 2002 ALSO Foundation report that explores the needs of older gay, lesbian and transgender people, says that accommodation is established for people from particular ethnic groups all the time. “So if you set up accommoodation for non-heterosexual people, only those who want to go there will do so,” he said. “And that’s fine.”
Lyn Morgain, CEO of the ALSO Foundation, an organisation that has worked extensively with senior GLBT people, welcomed any initiative that provided people with more options.
“This is not an arrangement that will suit everybody. But that’s not the point. The point is, it is the start of a diversified range of options that obviously will cater for more members of our community,” she tells SX.
When asked whether she believed a retirement village had the potential to create a gay ghetto, she replies: “I think that ‘ghetto’ tends to be understood as a pejorative. Whereas in fact I think a better word might be ‘community’.”
Perhaps the final word should go to Peter Dickson, the managing director of Linton Estate, the village billed as Australia’s first retirement haven for gay, lesbian and transgender people.
“My response to that is that Linton Estate is an option for people,” Dickson says. “It’s not going to be for everybody. But as my slogan says, ‘a retirement haven for everyone’. And haven is a safe place.
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