Dartington's Abundant Life project to hold public consultation in Newton Abbot on 12th Feb. 2010

Dartington’s Abundant Life Retirement Community project

to hold 2nd round of Big Consultation meetings in

Kingsbridge, Ivybridge and Newton Abbot in February 2010

The Dartington Hall Trust would like to invite members of the public to take part in the 2nd round of the Abundant Life - Big Consultation Days, taking place on:

· Monday 1st February 2010 at Harbour House, Kingsbridge

· Friday 5th February 2010 at the Watermark Centre, Ivybridge

· Friday 12th February 2010 at the Teignbridge District Scout Headquarters, Newton Abbot

The main aim of these Abundant Life - Big Consultation Days is to gather people’s ideas and thoughts on Dartington’s exciting plans to build a new kind of residential community for older people on the Dartington Hall Estate.

“We want to establish a community where creativity and personal development will run alongside the provision of care and support for life – older residents will play an important part in the wider community and keep active, busy and full of purpose,” said Celia Atherton, Project Director and Director of Social Justice at Dartington.

The Abundant Life Project is being developed to launch in 2013 (subject to planning permission) and will consist of around 120 apartments, tailored to the specific needs of the residents. The complex will be located at the old Dartington School site near the Cider Press Centre on the Dartington Hall Estate and will be designed to be dementia-friendly. The apartments will have a range of sizes and be available on a mixed-tenure basis, made up of owned, shared-ownership and rental.

Facilities will be open for residents as well as the local community and will include a gym, library, workshops and allotments. There will be many opportunities for residents to contribute to the activities taking place on the Dartington Hall Estate. It is also planned that small business spaces will continue to be provided for local people.

Commenting on the 2nd round of the Big Consultation Days, Celia Atherton said, “We want to make absolutely sure that the wider community has an input into the development of this project because it focuses on an issue that affects us all – how do we plan for a happier and fulfilling older age?”

“That’s why we are following up the Totnes event held last year with three more local events in February at Kingsbridge, Ivybridge and Newton Abbot. And at each venue we are holding three separate sessions, to ensure the widest possible out-reach to local people.”

“At each one of these sessions, Dartington will share more information on the project and then listen to what you, your friends and the wider community have to say,” she added.

To collect participants’ views, each of these nine sessions will use the latest ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ push-button technology, enabling participants to cast their own vote. The results of each consultation will then be fed directly into the development process for the Abundant Life project, so that Dartington can establish a vibrant community that complements and meets the needs of its local and wider community.

The format of each event is as follows:

Welcome and introduction

Presentation by Celia Atherton

Question & Answer session, with electronic voting

Open discussion

Close

There will be three sessions per venue; each one lasting around an hour.

Sessions start at 9:30am, 11:00am and 12:30pm at each venue.

Summary findings of the three events will be posted onto the Abundant Life website at www.dartington.org/abundant-life. People keen to find out more about the Abundant Life project or to register for email updates can also sign up through the website.

- Ends -

For more information, please contact:

Rita Cummings, Directtor of Fundraising and Communications

T 01803 847005 E r.cummings@dartington.org

Venue date, time & address

Friday 12th Feb. 2010, Teignbridge Scout HQ, Wolborough Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 1LJ

Sessions start at 09:30am; 11:00am and 12:30pm at each venue.