In a small gathering held at Clement Street next to Gloucester High School on Wednesday, February 27, a group of invited guests celebrated the official approval of Anglican Care's development application for a new nursing home and retirement village.

Gloucester Worimi Elder Ken Eveleigh conducted the Welcome to Country at the start of the ceremony, welcoming everyone to the home of his ancestors. He explained his connection to the land surrounding the site and beyond.

"Please take the time while you're here to learn about our culture," Uncle Ken encouraged.

During his address to the crowd, Anglican Care chief executive officer, Colin Osborne thanked the former Gloucester Shire Council, MidCoast Council and Federal member for Lyne, David Gillespie for helping to make this development possible.

"This project would have been dead in the water without federal funding," Mr Osborne said. "This almost $20 million development is the biggest project in Gloucester's recent history."

It's a development Dr Gillespie has been fighting for since 2010, when he first ran for the seat in Lyne, after having set foot in Gloucester's existing nursing home facilities.

"The current facilities are not fit for purpose," Dr Gillespie told the crowd.

It was thanks to a federal funding announcement under its Building Better Regions Fund, advocated by Dr Gillespie, that added to $8 million to Anglican Care's $10,151,511 to make the nursing home component financially viable.

Dr Gillespie also spoke about the changes in aged care and how there has been a shift from an up to three year lifespan in high care facilities to only three months with more focus on home care.

"There is a huge backlog," he said, indicating that the Federal Government is working toward a quicker turn-around time, along with an increase in available packages.

Bishop of Newcastle Peter Stuart and Anglican Care chair Malcolm McDonald were the first to dig the shovel into the soil, marking the start of construction which is due to be completed in 2020.

Bishop Stuart then blessed the site and all those work will work on the project, referring to it as "a gift to the community."

Amid the crowd was MidCoast Council deputy mayor Katheryn Smith, Member for Upper Hunter Michael Johnsen, Gloucester Soldiers' Memorial Hospital health service manager, Paul Townsend, numerous Anglican board members and staff and project designers.

It is expected the project will take approximately 15 months to complete.

The construction strategy will see the new 50 bed nursing home built first, with a display unit of the retirement village home due to be completed at the end of that time. Mr Osborne is hopeful that a large number of local tradespeople will be employed during the construction process, as well as for the ongoing maintenance.

The retirement village portion of the project will be rolled out in stages as the units are sold. According to Mr Osborne, the sale of the units will be handled by either all or one of the Gloucester real estate agents. Units on offer will be either two or three bedrooms with a range of features including carports or garages.