Plans have been lodged to build the first childcare centre in Smythesdale - saving families a 26km round trip to the current nearest centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The centre, proposed for 73 Brooke St, on the corner of Smythesdale-Snake Valley Road, would cater for 126 children and be built on land that is currently vacant apart from an existing shed.
The proposal would also create new access to the site from Brooke Street and a two-lot subdivision once the boundaries are realigned.
According to planning application documents lodged with Golden Plains Shire, the $1.2 million childcare centre will have a total floor area of about 883 square metres comprising six separate rooms for children, with further rooms for staff, offices, kitchen, planning, storage and reception areas.
The centre will cater for up to 60 children under the age of three across three rooms, and 66 children over three years in three rooms and be open from 6.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday.
In 2022, a Victorian University report Deserts and Oasis: How accessible is childcare in Australia found Smythesdale and all of northern Golden Plains was a "childcare desert," with just 0.1 childcare places per child.
It will be the first long daycare centre in the growing Haddon-Smythesdale area.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of families living in Smythesdale jumped 20 per cent over the five years to 2021. And the number of children aged 0-4 across Haddon-Smythesdale and surrounding districts is forecast to grow 37 per cent in the next 18 years.
The proposed centre will be single story with a mix of external materials including rendered brickwork, timber cladding and lightweight cladding and will feature a large veranda along the Brooke Street frontage.
Children will have more than 913 square metres of outdoor playspace on the eastern side and partially on the southern side of the building.
Families travelling into Ballarat for work and education from areas such as Scarsdale, Linton and further afield are also expected to use the proposed new centre, which comes amid rapid growth in the northern end of the Golden Plains Shire. Council documents reveal an expected 2000 or more extra residents living in the area by 2030.
The number of childcare centres across Ballarat continues to boom, with two current planning applications before the City of Ballarat for centres in Miners Rest and Cardigan, with several others under construction.
