River Road Ryman Times Summer edition 2018
Our site blessed MÄ ori kaumatua recite prayers at Karakia
Public meetings
Meet Allan & Judith
Meet Coxy
A note from Sandy & David Hello and welcome to the summer edition of the River Road Ryman Times. What an exciting start it has been. Our first stages went on sale to the public in September and we have been overwhelmed with interest and sales. With stage 2 almost completely sold out and the recent release of stage 3 independent townhouses, we have a range of options to suit everyone. If it’s river or park views you would like to have, we have gorgeous two- and three-bedroom independent apartments with stunning views available. In September, we also released our gorgeous brand new one-bedroom serviced apartment plans. We also enjoy getting to know the wider community and have met many wonderful people at various events over the last
Sandy Turner Sales Advisor Ph: 07 853 3382
few months. Special mention to the teams at Horsham Downs Golf Club, Hamilton Golf Club, Claudelands Croquet Club, Frankton Junction Bowling Club, Taupiri Bowling Club, Waikato Working Men’s Club, Waikato Aged Concern and Hamilton Bridge Club. We are looking forward to our first residents arriving in early 2019 and we can’t wait to welcome them into the village community. If you would like to view our plans, please give us a call or visit our sales office at 1775 River Road opposite Woodridge Estate in Flagstaff. Kind regards,
Sandy Turner Sales Advisor
David de Veth Sales Advisor
David de Veth Sales Advisor Ph: 07 853 3382
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Karakia marks a new beginning Maori kaumatua representing six hapu from Waikato-Tainui have blessed the site of our new village. The 8.3-hectare site on River Road in Flagstaff is of great significance to Maori, being situated beside the sacred Waikato River. The six local hapu who came together at the karakia, in July, were Ngati Mahanga, Ngati Wairere, Ngati Haua, Ngati ki, N Koroki, Ngati Mahuta and Ngati Tamainupo. Fronting proceedings was kaitiaki Piripi Matika who led the group, which also included Ryman staff, down the hillside towards the river. Water from the river was sprinkled and prayers were recited as part of the karakia, or blessing, with each representative taking turns to say their own prayers. Piripi said: “We are grateful to Ryman for letting us come here today to perform this karakia and we’d also like to thank them for being part of it.” He also explained why it was so important to perform the ceremony: “We want to make provision for and give clearance to any spirits that may have been left on the land. “It is also important to ensure
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that everybody who works or lives on the site is safe.” The group then sang a waiata before Ryman’s Regional Operations Manager Arthur Keane spoke. “Thank you for asking for a blessing on this land so that our building may be safe for our construction workers and so that our village residents can enjoy their retirement here for many happy years,” he said. The riverside location is believed to have once been the site of a Maori pa before later being farmed. Ryman will consult with an archaeologist and iwi representatives on any historic findings at the site. Ryman Healthcare bought the land in 2015 from a local farmer and plan to build townhouses and apartments for more than 400 residents. The village will be built in different stages and cater to a variety of needs. It will include resthome suites, hospital and dementia care, serviced apartments, independent living apartments and townhouses. Pictured: The karakia, or blessing, included Kaumatua and representatives from Waikato iwi.
Floodgates open for village Any thought that Hamilton retirees may not have heard that Ryman Healthcare was building a second village in town was quickly dispelled by the sheer numbers attending two public meetings in September.
September, are nearly all sold while the second nd stage of townhouses and serviced apartments ments are on sale now. w.
Nearly 200 people turned up to the information presentations held at Hamilton Golf Club at St Andrews, which were delivered by Chief Financial Officer David Bennett and Group Sales and Marketing Officer Debbie McClure.
David said that the first residents could hope to move into the first townhouses in March next year while the village centre was pegged to open in June 2020.
The pair introduced the rest of the team working on the River Road site, including Sales Advisors Sandy Turner and David de Veth, Regional Sales Manager Jane O’Connell, Project Manager Gary Cox, and Regional Construction Manager David Gibson. David Bennett explained what Ryman Healthcare is all about to the audience, namely that the company’s point of difference is that it designs and builds its own villages, which it then goes on to run. “We’re all about providing choice for older people and offering them the very best in aged care,” David said. “And because we do everything in-house, our designs evolve over time and we’re continuously looking to improve on the last. “We see if there are any lessons to be learned to take forward for the next village, taking into account residents’ feedback.” The 8.3 hectare site situated on the banks of the beautiful Waikato River in the suburb of Flagstaff was previously farmland. Ryman bought the land from the farmer in 2015 and plans to build townhouses and apartments for more than 400 retirees. The first stage of townhouses and independent apartments, that went on sale to the public in
He also invited the audience to offer fer their suggestions ns for a potential name e for the village saying that local al knowledge gave invaluable insight. ght. Debbie McClure then took the podium to outline what residents can expect from life in a Ryman village. “We can build great facilities but it’s the residents that make our community,” Debbie said. Debbie and David then took a few questions from the audience which covered subjects such as pricing, garaging, staffing ratios in the care centre and electric car power points before inviting everyone to enjoy a cup of tea and a snack while taking a closer look at the plans. Pictured right: Sales Advisors David de Veth and Sandy Turner at the Hamilton event. Inset: The information presentations included one-on-one time.
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Resident Profile
Meet Allan & Judith
“We weighed up all the options and feel that Ryman is by far the best.” Now the couple, who have two children, six grandchildren and a nine-month-old great granddaughter, are beginning the process of prioritising their possessions as they look forward to moving from their five-bedroom house into their brand new second-floor twobedroom apartment. “It has a view of both Featherstone Park and the river and so we’re pretty happy with that,” Allan says.
We weighed up all the options and feel that Ryman is by far the best.
“We actually took the plans and went along to the park to get a look at where it would be and we bumped into another couple with their family who were holding a set of plans too!
It was Allan and Judith Hazelwood’s daughter Susie who first brought up the subject of retirement living.
“It turned out to be my old accountant who is moving in as well!”
“She thought we’d enjoy the people and the facilities,” says Allan, 81. “And we had been speaking about the two of us moving into a retirement village while we’re both reasonably fit and able.” Shortly after having that conversation with their daughter, the couple heard about Ryman Healthcare’s new village being built at the beautiful riverside location on River Road. Soon everything started slotting into place. “For most of our married life in Hamilton we have lived beside the river,” says Allan who used to run an industrial and commercial decorating business. “And with our daughter and eldest grandchildren and my golf club being just down the road it was the perfect location.”
The Hazelwoods have since discovered about four people they know are moving in at the same time which they say is just the icing on the cake. “I think it’s the simple things we’re most looking forward to, like if it’s a wet Sunday afternoon and you might feel a bit bored sitting around and you think, oh let’s go down and have a cup of coffee in the lounge and meet up with some other people,” says Allan. “There will be little social groups for card games or snooker and the fact it’s got a beauty salon right there means Judith can just go in and get her eyebrows done, no trouble at all.” With a chuckle he adds: “We’re very pleased to get in there and having made the decision we just want them to hurry up and build it so we can move in!”
Allan and Judith went along to the ‘50+ and loving it’ Festival where they met the ‘very helpful’ Sales Advisor David de Veth and asked him lots of questions.
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Staff Profile
Introducing Gary
“I came back and by then I had one son and so I thought I’d better start taking life seriously, so I did an adult apprenticeship with a company in Whangarei. “I built about 70 houses then went straight out on my own, building high-end homes out on the coast. “I love building, it’s the only thing I’m knowledgeable and passionate about.” He joined Ryman in 2008 and soon found himself doing things that were right out of his comfort zone.
We’re on this journey together.
Project Manager Gary Cox, or Coxy, is a great man for analogies. When describing how he tackles the task of the build at the site he is noticeably creative. “I’m like a structural psychologist,” he says. “I’ve got to get inside its head, and visualise how A meets B and C.” This approach has worked very well for Coxy over the 10 years he’s been with Ryman. Originally from Whangarei, he began his Ryman life building the Jane Mander Retirement Village. This was followed by stints in New Plymouth for Jean Sandel, Waikanae for Charles Fleming, and Tauranga for Bob Owens. For the last four and a half years he has been based at Petone building the Bob Scott village, coming home to Tauranga at weekends. “I love my job. The drive for me is, I hate failure. And I’ve got a lovely, patient wife who’s a Rymanian by default,” he laughs. Coxy was a relative latecomer to building after spending eight years backpacking around the world from the age of 18.
“If someone had said to me when I was backpacking around Europe that I would be doing this job now I would have laughed because I hated public speaking and yet that’s a lot of what I do now.” Coxy is looking forward to turning the stunning site into another beautiful Ryman village. “The boundary fence is up, the trees are down, and we’ve set up the site compound and sales offices. “Now it’s a case of reading up on all the management reports while we wait for the various consents to come through.” Coxy says a big consideration for the team is always to keep health and safety in mind. “We have got undulating ground and a swamp, so we’ll need to double our efforts about where machinery is going because we take health and safety extremely seriously.” While he’s determined to get the job done in a safe way, Coxy’s sense of humour is well-known and he strives to create an enjoyable working environment for everyone on site. “We’re on this journey together,” he says. “I want everyone to work hard and appreciate what they’re doing but they should be able to smell the roses along the way.”
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Raring to go at River Road While waiting for the village to go on the market, Waikato locals Sandy Turner and David de Veth gained amazing insight into what Ryman villages have to offer retirees. “I have been blown away with the quality of life that people enjoy in a village. It’s like a luxury resort and not like the old-fashioned version of a retirement home that people sometimes perceive,” says Te Awamutu-born Sandy. “We often say to each other, ‘when can we sign up?’,” laughs David, who comes from a farming background. Before sales started, the pair visited Ryman villages at varying stages of occupancy, and soaked up as much information as possible. “We had the best training and have been able to experience so many aspects of the role, learning from some of the best in the team, which has been a real privilege,” says Sandy. Before joining Ryman, Sandy, a mum of three grown-up children, worked as general manager for the Hamilton Central Business Association where she organised events and projects to help regenerate and enhance the CBD.
David, a dad of two boys, was working as national sales manager for a tertiary education company and while he’d risen through the ranks, he was missing the contact with people, which was what appealed about this role. “That’s quite intrinsic to who I am so I really wanted to be doing that a lot more,” he says. “When I looked Ryman up all the emphasis on kindness really struck a chord with me.” And on their tours of other villages Sandy and David saw the Ryman ethos of kindness in action. “People just blossom, there’s so many things on offer for them to do and their lives become fuller,” says Sandy. “That’s a real testament to how the villages operate and how fantastic the staff are that work in them.” And with the first residents due to move into the first townhouses at the River Road village early next year, the pair can’t wait to see them thriving and happy in their new homes – roll on 2019! Pictured: (from left) Gary Cox with Sales Advisors Sandy Turner and David de Veth.
She then decided she wanted to do something completely different and after doing some research on Ryman she jumped at the chance when the job was advertised. “Ryman stood out head and shoulders above the rest, especially with the company’s culture of kindness and empathy. That really appealed to me,” she says.
1775 River Road, Hamilton
07 853 3382 www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz