A Townsville local will return to the neighbourhood of her youth when Carinity’s new Fairfield Grange retirement community opens next year.

Lorna Mead used to watch her children play on the green paddocks of her family’s plant nursery in Idalia.

Fast forward more than half a century and Lorna is set to live in her old neighbourhood again.

Lorna was one of the first people to put her name down to move into The Avenues at Fairfield Grange, Carinity’s newest retirement village currently under construction.

As a newlywed in the 1960s she and husband Ray lived across the road from the Fairfield Grange site “long enough to see a crocodile swim past during the floods”.

When Lorna was a child the Idalia district featured horse stables, dairies and cattle grazing in the fields.

By mid-2018, the area will welcome Fairfield Grange’s first 38 architecturally designed, energy-efficient retirement villas including designer kitchens with European appliances, spacious living areas and ensuites.

Set on 6.5 hectares of landscaped gardens, the $30-million community is across the road from Townsville’s first urban village precinct, with boutique retail sites including the city’s only artisan bakery, gourmet butcher, and full-line delicatessen.

Lorna decided to join the retirement community after being “very impressed” by the care given to her late husband at Carinity’s existing residential aged care complex on the site.

Earlier this year Lorna donated her 1940s German-made Danemann professional piano for use by Fairfield Grange’s aged care residents.

“I wanted to show my appreciation for the manner in which they looked after Ray. The care he received there was exemplary, they did a wonderful job and they were so compassionate and accommodating,” Lorna says.

Around 40% of Stage One retirement villas at Fairfield Grange, priced from $425,000, have already been sold.

For more on joining the Fairfield Grange community call 1300 060 060 or send a message via the Fairfield Grange website contact page.