Gorokan childcare centre to be reviewed

Developers of a childcare centre at Gorokan which was rejected by Central Coast Council in May have made application to have the proposal reviewed.

The $5M centre was planned for 54-60 Wallarah Rd, on the corner of Bertha St, following demolition of an existing motel on the site.

It would be a two-storey childcare centre for a maximum of 94 children, operating on weekdays from 7am to 6pm.

Council rejected the development application because several aspects of the proposed development were non-compliant with the Child Care Planning Guideline 2021and Central Coast Development Control Plan 2022.

These include: the outdoor play areas not providing a variety of settings and interaction, predominately being wet pour rubber and synthetic turf; lack of landscaping to encourage nature play; limited areas of deep soil planting for groundwater infiltration; and lack of natural shade.

No water tanks for water reuse were proposed.

The building overhang of the first floor resulted in poor solar access to the playrooms – particularly Room 2 and Room 3 would receive no solar access other than a small corner in the morning until the afternoon from the hotter western sun, Council said.

The roof over the first-floor outdoor play area, a 1.8m privacy screen on the first-floor balcony and the small windows on the western side would result in poor solar access to Room 4.

Council’s Traffic Committee outlined traffic safety risks, saying “it was not considered sufficient to provide crash barriers to lower the risk of an errant car entering the play areas when the risk could be eliminated through better siting/layout of the building”.

The committee report said the pedestrian footpath would be better located on Bertha St to provide a clear pedestrian entry point near the vehicle entry, the footpaths were not wide enough to allow two prams to pass and there was no footpath from southern carparking spaces.

On those grounds, and for various other reasons, Council deemed that the proposed childcare centre was not in the public interest.

The developer, Malachite Holdings Superannuation Fund, is exercising the right to appeal under Section 8.2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and applied to Council to review the determination.