By Parker McKenzie
The Knox area will potentially see two new childcare centres open in the near future, with planning permits being advertised for development in Boronia and The Basin.
According to the planning permit application, the Boronia centre — located at 65 Boronia Road — will cost an estimated $3.9 million to develop and will operate from Monday to Friday once constructed, accommodating and caring for a maximum of 131 at any time. It will potentially support and employ 24 carers, a centre director and one chef.
The proposed build features eight “child-minding rooms”, a kitchen, laundry, office, reception and staff facilities. It will also have 930 square meters of outdoor play space.
The permit was submitted on behalf of Hume Childcare Property Ltd.
The second proposed childcare centre being currently advertised is located at 1206-1208 Mountain Highway, The Basin and is estimated to cost $2 million to develop. The current site is two residential sites which will be consolidated and replaced by an Eden Academy childcare centre if the permit is successfully granted.
Eden Academy runs multiple centres around Australia, including Newport and Oakpark, Melbourne. All in all, there are 9 Eden Academy centres currently operating with another 10 set to open by the end of 2022.
The proposed centre in The Basin will cater for a total of 18 staff and care for up to 108 children aged from six weeks to three years old.
If approved, it will include four sleeping rooms, six activity rooms, two prep rooms, a recreation room, laundry, kitchen, staff room and a store for a total of 760 square metres of outdoor play area and 356 square metres of “internal activity area.”
In The Basin, there are currently 0.194 childcare places per child, with the entire suburb being a “childcare desert” according to research from the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University published in March 2022.
A childcare desert is a “populated area where there are more than three children per childcare place, or less than 0.333 places per child aged four or under.”
In Boronia, there are 0.356 places per a child, with 38.5 per cent of the suburb being a childcare desert according to the same research.
