Incredible Transformation Planned For Kimberley Site

The once grim Kimberley Centre near Levin is about to be transformed.
 
The centre, that became the largest intellectually handicapped hospital in the Southern Hemisphere, fell into disrepair after it was closed 10 years ago but it’s now been given a new lease of life.
 
And what a lease and what a life. On March 23 it will be officially opened as the Speldhurst Country Estate Lifestyle Village. Just as Kimberley sprawled across 48 hectares, Speldhurst will landscape and utilise the total space to create a gracious and spacious village for hundreds of residents.
 
The vision for Speldhurst comes from Horowhenua Property Developer, Wayne Bishop, who together with his wife, Bridget, bought the $3.85 million site from MidCentral Health nearly three years ago and started his development in July last year once consents were approved.
 
Wayne had been studying lifestyle villages, both in New Zealand and overseas, for many years and his first practical involvement was building MiLIfe Retirement Village in Levin in 1998.
 
In recent years he’s become concerned that lifestyle communities are flourishing throughout New Zealand on minimal land with apartments crowding in on each other. He felt older residents deserved better than living in identical, compact villas and, when Kimberley was put on the market, he tendered for the entire site to create a village where residents had space to instil their own individualism.
 
As a member of the Horowhenua District Council and an active member of the community, Wayne saw “age living” as a key element of the government’s regional growth strategy.
 
“Horowhenua is ideally placed as a lifestyle centre and, with the major highway becoming a road of national significance, Levin residents will be able to get to Wellington Airport in 40 minutes or less in the future,” Wayne says. 
 

Photo courtesy of Hopwood

“I identified a gap in the market and I saw the Kimberley site as providing an opportunity for an awesome living space for older people. Grace and grandeur can replace grimness.”
 
On Wednesday, March 23, MPs, civic leaders, invited guests and the community, through an open day, will receive their first glimpse of Wayne Bishop’s vision.
 
Twenty homes at various stages of completion will be on display in a development estimated to be $150 million, bringing in a potential $750 million to the local economy.
 
Wayne, together with his sister, Debra Bishop as Village Manager, proposes to build 500 homes over a 20 year period, providing elegant living for over 600 people. He is proud that something of this scale is rarely envisaged in New Zealand. 
 
In addition to the two and three bedroom homes, the Kimberley chapel has been renovated, a community centre, to be called The George, will be built as the communal hub, a hydrotherapy pool will be developed both for residents and the community and leisure facilities such as croquet lawns, model railway and Riding for Disabled are already been based there.
 
Wayne is already working with the Education Department and local secondary schools to further develop a Vocational Pathways construction course at Speldhurst where there can be a seamless transition of students from school into the workforce.
 
As a member of the Salvation Army, he’s motivated by Christian principles and wants his legacy to be one where both the residents and his beloved Horowhenua benefit.
 
Wayne’s lived in the region all his life and believes his values are respected by the community. With his sleeves rolled up most of his time, he spends six days a week, working alongside his staff of 15 building homes or pouring concrete.
 
Wayne wears a lot of hats, most of them hard.
 
However Wayne and Debra are creating something different from other developers. They’re building not just another residential centre but a spacious village which will be self-sufficient for its residents but have transport at their doorstep to shuttle them into town when required.
 
“It’s not suburbia. It’s a park like rural feel. People don’t face the demeaning prospect of selling off most of the possessions to come into retirement. They can bring them here,” Wayne says.
 
Since the 160 square metre homes, ranging in price from $315-$356,000, went on sale last month, seven are now under contract and interest has been expressed from Wellington and Kapiti to Manawatu and Tararua.
 
“Kimberley has gone and something beautiful is taking its place,” Wayne says.