AS A teenager in the late ‘60s I was want to frequently quote Bob Dylan’s song The Times They Are A Changin’, to my elders and betters, which once led my grandmother to tell me that change was something only the young coveted.
Certainly change can leave the elderly unsettled as the familiar is transformed by time and circumstances and living environments metamorphose around them.
Fawkner in outer Melbourne is a case in point.
Once a traditional Aussie suburb popular with mediterranean migrants, Fawkner is now desirable to developers keen to capitalise on the demands of a growing population.
Once the neighbourhood gained its sense of identity from those making a life in a new country – finding jobs, building homes and relationships with neighbours; and raising children to have lives easier than those they endured. Now in their senior years, these same residents find themselves swamped by change that can leave them isolated and confused.
It’s a situation which worries and saddens Fawkner Resident’s Association founder Joe Perri who believes that the needs of the elderly are often overlooked by town planners.
“Many of Fawkner’s seniors live lonely existences isolated from families,” he said.
“Like so many seniors throughout Melbourne, Fawkner’s mature age residents have a deep emotional attachment to the family home and desire to leave it as a legacy for their children. Many live lives of hardship as they struggle to keep their heads above water financially and physically.”
Joe tells of elderly residents being pressed to sell up – ‘The developers are circling my home like vultures waiting for me to die,’ – was how one long-term resident described the experience.
Increased traffic and parking issues resulting from higher density housing are also making life difficult for elderly residents, keeping them in their homes and further isolating them.
“The bench in front of the Bonwick Street pharmacy that acted as the social piazza where for years retired friends and neighbours of Italian heritage would gather ‘per fara una bella chiacchierata’ (for a nice chat) is today sadly empty”, said Joe.
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