Restdown village a family affair for new chair

He has a strong family connection to the village, his parents having lived on site for almost a decade and his younger sister now a resident of the village.

“We came up here in December 2005, having lived on an acreage at Gisborne,” said the long-time boiler maker.

His wife Val’s parents lived in Mathoura and Rochester was a regular rest stop for the couple en-route to the New South Wales riverside community.

“We used to stop here and we found it a really friendly place,” Mr Trench said.

When it came time to relocate from Gisborne the couple decided on Rochester as their future home and, with no intentions of becoming involved with the retirement village, bought the house right next door to Restdown.

“The main reason was the fact there was nobody behind us. The village residents are very quiet and good neighbours,” Mr Trench said.

He said the decision to become involved with the village management came after he and his wife decided they wanted to do something in the community.

“We went to the meeting of the group and I got involved with the organisation. It was around the time of the 2007 new build,” he said.

Mr Trench’s father, after several trips to town to visit his son, decided to move up here from Melton at a time when a unit at Restdown was available.

"They moved in not long after I joined the committee and lived there until mum died in 2014, dad had died a year earlier,“ he said.

Since then Mr Trench’s sister has also made the village home after deciding to move to the country.

“She lives in the neighbouring unit to where my parents were,” he said.

Mr Trench said he envisaged remaining involved with the organisation, which is under constant renovation and requires regular maintenance.

“The plans to develop the site are still there, we have two more units ready to be developed once the plans are approved.

"And the road also needs some work. We will build the bank balance back up and go again,“ he said.