BERRIDALE residents have gathered on the premises of Berry Cottages to celebrate the official opening of its newest home, the Amy Berry cottage.

The seventh cottage has been unveiled, much to the delight of the Berry Cottages board and community, who came together last week for the milestone. The latest cottage has been funded through the sale of the Berridale Hall by the Berridale CWA branch.

Ron Berry and wife Amy Berry set up ‘the Berry Cottages’ company in 1992, making the donation to the Berridale district to provide independent living for older residents and people with a disability in a carefree and secure environment.

The Berry Cottages complex provides suitable and secure housing for those in need within the Berridale community and is a volunteer run project.

CWA member Pat Field presented the Amy Berry cottage resident with the keys to the cottage along with a bouquet of flowers and thanked all involved in completing the new edition.

“Thank you to the branch members for their work and support to get this off the ground, the Berridale aged care centre for taking on the paperwork and supervising the building process and head office for supporting a new concept,” Ms Field said.

“A big thank you to CWA member, Philippa, for her hard work at pushing this project through and to Kevin Billmann who put off his retirement to build the cottage and I hope Lynn will be very happy here.”

Chair of the Berry Cottages board, Don Clinton said this is a terrific cottage for Berridale and will be here for many generations to enjoy and bring a safe, homely environment to those who need it.

Member of the board, Bill Smits echoed these views and said there has been very good cooperation and good will to get this cottage complete between many corporations.

Builder Kevin Billmann was absent during the opening of Amy Berry cottage though was spoken of often during the tour and his craftmanship left all in awe.

Years in the making and many hands-on deck, the cottage consists of two bedrooms, one bathroom, single lock up garage, kitchen, dining and lounge room with a small private patio and is designed to allow for wheelchair access.

Resident of the new cottage, Lynn Smith looks forward to settling in her new home and expressed her gratitude to the hardworking members who secured her a safe and beautiful place to live.

“It feels amazing to be accepted as the new resident of this cottage, it is an absolute privilege and the opportunity to live somewhere so beautiful that fits my every need is very humbling,” Ms Smith said.

“There is a community here and as I get older it’s important to be surrounded by like-minded people and having the luxury of living in this cottage is beyond words, I am very grateful to all involved.”

Celebrations continued after the opening with lunch at the Berridale Inn as they reminisced on stories of Ron and Amy Berry and the beginning of the Berry Cottages.