Two decades after Bowen Islanders first embraced the idea, a supportive residence for Bowen seniors is a big step closer to reality.
Last week Bowen’s government gave the go-ahead for the residence’s planners to apply for connection to the municipal water system. A successful application, involving engineering reports which will take several weeks or months to prepare, will allow the Snug Cove House Society to offer for sale half of its Miller Road land. A successful sale of the land will raise enough money to pay for half the cost of constructing the residence. The other half will be raised by a mortgage.
The Snug Cove House land is divided into ten lots: one for the residence itself and nine smaller ones for sale to the public. Three lots are for single family homes of 1,500 square feet each, and the six other lots are for duplex buildings containing two units, again each unit a maximum of 1,500 square feet. The size limitation allows affordable housing for first-time buyers with young families -- the Miller Road land is within easy and safe walking distance to the school.
It is also expected that seniors will want to live there to take advantage of the facilities provided in the residence and the nearby village.
The lack of municipal water to the Snug Cove House land has been a major stumbling-block since the land was first bought after a community fund-raising drive eleven years ago in 2004. Health authorities wouldn’t allow more users to be added to the local Cove Bay Water District until it submitted a plan for improvements to its water quality -- a plan that was accepted last week.
