Almost 2000 childcare places and 17 new centres planned for westside

A FLOOD of 17 planned new childcare centres – some already under construction – that would deliver about 1700 places to Brisbane’s west has drawn the ire of residents who say there are already too many.

Concerns from long day care service providers have been raised about the number of new childcare centres.

THE group representing Queensland’s long day care service providers has spoken out about a flood of new centres and says potential developers should have to prove there is local need.

A Westside News analysis found there were currently 17 centres proposed, approved or under construction in the inner west. If all went ahead, that would add about 1700 places.

While some are welcome, at least three proposals have stirred up a hornet’s nest including the latest project, a C & K planned for Payne Rd at the Gap, which has angered residents in nearby cul-de-sac Goldie St.

Residents in Jaloon St, Ashgrove, and Moordale St, Chapel Hill, were also fighting two new projects.

“There is a minimum rate of occupancy that must be met to ensure the ongoing operation and sustainability of childcare services,” Australian Childcare Alliance state general manager Brent Stokes said.

“There are currently 117,000 licensed places in Queensland, with an average occupancy of only 76.3 per cent,” he said.

Mr Stokes said inner-Brisbane suburbs and pockets of the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Sunshine Coast were “saturated’’ with childcare centres — with up to 14 operators in one northside suburb.

Residents and industry bodies want better planning rules as it is not mandatory for developers of new childcare projects in Brisbane to show how much demand there would be for extra places, and how they would affect existing centres.

Moordale St residents will find out today if Brisbane City Council will approve a Smithfield Property Group (SPG) proposal for a 124-place centre.

They were quietly hopeful late last year that it would be knocked back after Council officers wrote to the developer to point out that the centre was too close to LP gas cylinders at a Shell service station.

However, a document lodged recently with the Council revealed SPG had entered into a commercial agreement with Shell for the cylinders to be removed before the childcare centre opened for business.

Jaloon St property owner Matt Ryeland claimed the original noise report for a Waterworks Rd centre adjacent to his street used the wrong plans and “makes basic incorrect assumptions about my house’’.

He supported more childcare centres in the area but said, in this case, the location was unsuitable. “The method of testing for background noise is invalid for assessing the impact it will have on surrounding residents,’’ he said.