West Pennant Hills: Childcare centre with chickens, veggie gardens part of $5m plan
A multimillion-dollar development has been proposed for West Pennant Hills which includes a “fresh approach” childcare centre with chef cooked meals, chickens and veggie gardens. Here’s what you should expect.
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A $5m development proposal for West Pennant Hills is being touted to revitalise the area with a health and nature focused childcare centre and medical centre.
The project would include knocking down the existing “rundown” nursery, which was badly damaged by storms several years ago and to replace it with a childcare centre and medical centre with a basement carpark.
The development would be up to two-storeys high, with 30 parking spaces for a 120-placement childcare centre and 28 parking spaces for the medical centre.
The development application also seeks torrens title subdivision of one lot into two.
It is set to be leased to Orchard Early Learning Centre, while there are plans to sell the medical centre.
Orchard Early Learning’s childcare centres feature produce gardens, orchards, stingless native Australian bee hives, herbal lavender gardens, chicken coops and recycled water stations.
Meanwhile, their menu includes chef cooked meals with a paddock to plate philosophy. According to its’s website they offer “healthy meals that are seasonally based, utilising produce from our gardens.”
“The children really engage in that nature curriculum. In our centre in the Sutherland Shire we have an orchard and the children can pick a pear and our chef’s cook from our edible gardens. We try our best to give that early learning experience”, Orchard Early Learning general manager Danielle Gallacher said.
“They’re learning about nature and animals, sustainability and recycling. With a lot of families living in apartment buildings, they don’t have the yards where they can do that at home so we provide them with that opportunity here.
“It’s amazing, when you speak to some children about food, they don’t know where it comes from. How do we expect our future leaders to be sustainable if we don’t teach them? It’s something Australia really needs.”
The developer Julian Carlo-Stella of Whitestone said the aim wasn’t to build a gigantic development and add more dwellings to the area, it was to service a growing population because “everyone needs childcare and medical”.
“I work closely with childcare operators and they actually tell me the areas where they see demand and where they would like to expand,” Mr Carlo-Stella said.
“There’s a forecast of 10,000 residents moving into Cherrybrook around the Metro so those people are going to need childcare and medical at some point.
“I think having a medical centre next to a childcare centre is quite complementary. The area also gets a lot of people passing the site using the M2 and demand will be there long term.”
He said the development will revitalise the current site.
“The existing building is an old depilated house which hasn’t been operating as a nursery for a number of years. We’re not removing the blue gum trees and the design will be contemporary, but it’s not going to be out there like a sore thumb, we want to blend in with the environment.
“I wanted this project to be something I’m proud of and that I hold onto.”
The development application is currently being assessed by the Sydney North Planning Panel and the site is located at 70-72 Castle Hill Road, West Pennant Hills.