Images: Fox Johnston Architects.
If parents living or working in Sydney’s CBD have had trouble finding nearby childcare centres, the City of Sydney is planning to make these continuing headaches a thing of the past.
At least in its own local government jurisdiction which has been feeling the pressure of having to cater to an influx of people into the CBD, but with existing resources that have been buckling under the weight of heavy demand from families.
It’s a pain that’s been felt across Australia, which was assessed by the Productivity Commission in February 2015, reporting that parents are struggling to find high quality childcare facilities, even though the federal government has tripled its funding to almost $7 billion in the last decade.
But no matter how much money is being spent, people want to feel the results, which is why City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has committed $55 million for childcare centres to be built now and in the future to prepare itself to meet the demand for quality childcare as more families and working parents move into the area.
Ms Moore said Sydney is a city renowned for its liveability, but to continue to thrive working parents in the area need access to child care.
“That’s why the City is investing in our own childcare centres while also working with the private sector to open new centres,” Ms Moore said.
She said since the release of the City’s Child Care Needs Analysis two years ago, developers have seen there is a demand for places in the inner city and they have been working closely with the council to include new centres in large developments.
Since 2013, this has led to more than 2,000 additional childcare places that have been approved under the City’s Childcare Development Control Plan.
The City expects that nearly 1,500 of those spaces located across 24 centres to be ready for kids and families by next year.
According to the City, development applications currently under assessment could add up to another 1,100 places.
Creating these places for children is important because the city has reached a crunch point where according to a 2013 childcare needs study by the City, there was a shortfall of 3,100 places that year, which is estimated to climb even further to a 3,400-place gap by 2016.
But according to the City, that gap is now steadily closing as demand could be met by 2018 if development of new childcare centres continues along this trend.
The City is also currently negotiating Voluntary Planning Agreements to provide childcare spaces with other private developers ahead of submitting development applications.
Just a slice of these new developments have been put on display by the City of Sydney, which has showcased concept artwork by Fox Johnston Architects of a new 74-place childcare centre with an outdoor play area in Green Square.
Green Square is the city’s fastest growing residential area, and a precinct that the council has invested $440 million over a decade to build up its community facilities and infrastructure.
As its population has been estimated to reach 54,000 by 2030, the City has seen the urgency in installing facilities that will attract families and businesses to the area.
The building company selected to transform the heritage-listed former Royal South Sydney Hospital outpatients’ building is Iqon, with a contract value of $5.5 million, with centre operations expected to be running by early 2017.
Ms Moore said this new childcare centre will be conveniently located within the Green Square Town Centre, a high-density area with community and recreational facilities, retail and commercial spaces, and links to public transport.
She said construction has already well underway on a new 60-place centre in Darlinghurst; building work will begin shortly on an 80-place centre in Sydney Park; and development applications for 60-place centres at Huntley Street in Alexandria and The Crescent in Annandale are currently being assessed.
