Old folk have right to stay in Liston Village units

Residents at Liston Retirement Village are staying put for now.

Auckland City Council is buying land owned by the Auckland Catholic diocese to extend Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough, which could mean Monte Cecilia School and Liston Village eventually having to move.

But the chairman of the board of managers at Liston Village, Pat Gallop, said that for the moment, it was business as usual for staff and residents.

"It's part of the council's wishlist and it's all part of that total block of land that the Catholic diocese owns."

The 25-unit village was established by the Archbishop Liston Memorial Foundation in 1982 for people on lower incomes, aged 60 years and over.

All the residents have a licence-to-occupy, which means that while they do not own the units, they can stay for the rest of their lives or until they choose to leave.

Mr Gallop said they had been heavily involved in meetings between the diocese and the council and wanted to see the village continue even if it meant shifting to a new location.

The council will eventually become owner of the village land when the last of the residents leaves. This includes those on site now and any others who come in before a final agreement is made between the council and the diocese.

"We're not going to let it die so there's only two or three people living there," Mr Gallop said.