Affordable housing topic of CARP meeting

Seniors from across the Quinte region gathered to the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre on Tuesday for a presentation regarding affordable housing.

The presentation was held by the Greater Bay of Quinte chapter of CARP (Canadian Association of Retired Persons).

Presenters Phil Spry and Bob Cottrell outlined how each of their respective organizations was addressing the growing needs for homes in the community.

Spry is the owner of Springale Developments, a company focused on building affordable housing.

Cottrell is the president of All Together Housing, a non-profit agency with a mission to find homes for vulnerable people.

“We were really excited to get the invitation to talk about affordable housing because the more people who understand affordable housing, I think the more we expect that folks will get involved in encouraging all three levels of government,” Cottrell tells Quinte News after the presentations.

The two presented their visions for how affordable housing should be tackled as well as the needs in order to accelerate building.

“I think people have a better understanding of affordable housing now, many times it’s solely low income housing or community housing. I think we need to broaden our definition of affordable housing,” Cottrell said.

“Hopefully the mixed income model that we were talking and promoting today, hopefully those main points have stuck with the audience,”

Also shown were different completed development projects from each company, including the Great Saint James Street project that was completed in partnership between Springale Developments and All Together Housing.

Another project that was highlighted was the redevelopment of the former Pinecrest Elementary School in Bloomfield into affordable housing.

The former school was purchased by the former LoveSong group in 2020. The group is now called Pinecrest Housing.

Pinecrest has partnered with Springale to bring fifty housing units to the area.

Renovation on the project is set to begin this month with an expected completion time of the fall of 2024.

Following the presentation, both presenters responded to questions from CARP members including specific accessible features within the buildings, as well as support they have received from all levels of government on their projects.

“I think we’re getting the support, the more they learn about it,” Spry tells Quinte News after being asked about local government support.

“With the new council coming in, it took them time to get familiarized with affordable housing. Now they’re 100% behind the projects that we do.”