LAIDLEY RESIDENTS proved themselves to be visionary group with a passion for their community when they came together on Saturday 4 February to discuss the future of Lutheran Community Care’s Tabeel service.

The one-day ‘community search’ event included a broad cross-section of local healthcare professionals, church congregation members, business owners, current Tabeel residents and their families and other Laidley community members.

Approximately 50 participants were asked to ‘think big’ about community needs, the types of services Tabeel could offer in 15 years and how the community could get involved.

Over the course of the day participants identified and refined their priorities and eventually arrived at the goal of making Laidley ‘a national centre of excellence for aged care’.

Lockyer Valley Mayor Steve Jones described Laidley — with its ageing population, rural appeal and proximity to regional and metropolitan centres — as the ideal location for this national centre of excellence.

“It is not possible to think too big in terms of aged care,” he said.

“The town plan needs to have aged care at its centre and this means we need strong cooperation between Council and aged care providers,

“For this to work we also need a regional hospital as part of the precinct and an electric rail service.”

State member for Lockyer, Ian Rickuss, congratulated Lutheran Community Care for holding the event.

“It is good to see the whole community is included in the exercise,” he said.

Mr Rickuss said some of the issues that had particularly captured his attention were the need to improve older people’s access to technology, the decreasing number of family carers, philanthropy as a way to assist funding aged care, and innovative building designs to enable people to live at home for longer.

Brian Wandel, a member of Lutheran Community Care’s governing council, has association with the Laidley area that goes back to the 1960s.

“My father Willy was the local Pastor from 1965 until 1973 and I married a local girl, Diane, in 1969,” he said.

“While I was living there I got to know a lot of the young folk there, who have aged along with us, and after I moved I stayed in contact with many of them.

“As a member of the LCC Council it is important to attend events like this to hear first hand what is going on, and it was an honour to be associated with this day because it is clear how passionate the people are about their community and their roles in it.”

By the end of the event small working parties were formed to maintain momentum and make the vision a reality.

Lutheran Community Care Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Kelly said she was excited about what had come out of the day and looked forward to working closely with the community and local council.

“LCC is committed to continuing to keep the lines of communication and local consultation open as we work together to improve older people’s lives,” she said.

“We would like to thank everyone who participated in our community search.”