There has been some reaction to the recent one-sided media coverage regarding our treatment of a resident at Yarrbat Place. We wanted to provide you with some balanced information. Pinnacle Living’s approach to building communities is to work with residents to try and tailor amenities to suit their needs. We believe the residents, and the Residents’ Association, are active partners in determining what they want and don’t want in their community.
In October 2018, the residents of the Yarrbat Place decided by a vote, with a majority of more than 85 per cent, to amend their community rules and prohibit smoking throughout the village. The vote was conducted using the process detailed in the Retirement Village Act.
Their decision was reflective of changing community attitudes to smoking as well as evidence available from Quit Victoria about the hazards of smoking, both directly and indirectly. This change is not a matter the Management has any authority to make under the Act or our Resident Agreements.
Despite allowing a generous amount of time for the residents’ habits to be modified, there were persistent and repeated complaints by residents, residents’ guests and staff regarding one resident who continued smoking, and the adverse impact of smoking on their lives. It was sufficiently disruptive that one neighbour had moved out and others were indicating the same actions. When our residents voted to make their community a smoke-free zone, it was a decision that was difficult for both the existing residents, as well as those who smoked because we all understand giving up is difficult. However, smoking is an amenity issue, similar to a restaurant, which has an impact on neighbours and other people living in the community.
All but one person accepted the community decision. There were many conversations and correspondence with her and legal representatives to advise them smoking was now in breach of the community rules and requesting she stop smoking on the premises.
Despite the efforts of friends, neighbours, counsellors, legal representatives, the Residents Association and staff, she was defiant and kept on smoking, even though she had given us and the other residents her assurance she would stop.
Her decision to continue smoking put the management team in a difficult position, with the option to allow her to continue to smoke, against the wishes of other residents, or terminating her lease. We felt our biggest responsibility was to reflect the clear wishes of the broader Yarrbat Place community, even if that meant Yarrbat Place was not the best place for her.
Prior to our notice of termination of her lease being enforced, the resident advised us she was going to live elsewhere. She advised us of this decision through her legal representative.
After she had moved out and found another place to live, we offered to purchase her apartment at an agreed price with reduced exit fees so she could gain access to her money immediately. She had the choice to go through the usual reinstatement and sale process, which was going to take more than six months, during which time she would still be paying the monthly maintenance fees as well as usual outgoings. Her preference, again communicated through her legal representative, was to accept our offer. It was not forced on her in anyway.
Any assertion that we try to force residents to leave after a set time is simply untrue and misleading. We have never been in this position before, where a resident’s lease has been put at risk because they failed to comply with some basic requirements set by their fellow residents. Our usual practice is to celebrate when our residents achieve long term milestones living in the village. Every year we celebrate our 20-year tenure residents at Tudor Village Lilydale, and earlier this year we celebrated with our 15-year tenure residents at our anniversary at Yarrbat Place.
We have an annual resident satisfaction survey where we ask our residents for their feedback and input. Our latest survey showed exceptional resident satisfaction results. Most reassuringly, residents who had lived in our villages for more than 10 years were 94 per cent satisfied with their village. Other areas where our residents rate us highly include safety, respecting residents’ privacy and confidentiality, professionalism and the standards of our facilities.
The survey said that before people decided to move in, 86 per cent felt that they were provided with all the information needed to make their decision.
This has been an emotional issue with a sad ending. It has been a long process with multiple efforts to try and resolve the situation. Much of this side of the story was not represented in the media coverage which is why we wanted to share this information with you.
If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them, and you can contact us directly via email at
enquiries@pinnacleliving.com.au.
