Prime Minister John Key enjoyed morning tea with about half of the Beetham Lifestyle Village residents this morning, including Trish Fenn.

It was the first stop of a one-day visit to Gisborne. Mr Key walked around the villas and gardens, and was shown the $7million hospital wing.

Board of Directors chairman Colin Christie said it was an honour for the village to host the PM.

“We’re really proud of this development and it’s great to show him how the aged population are looked after in this region.”

One resident reminded him “Don’t forget about our railway”.

Mr Key said he was looking at it closely and there were some “pretty nasty washouts”.

It was going to cost $4.3 million to fix. “Chicken feed,” replied another resident.