Concerns have been raised about a proposal for a four-storey childcare centre at the back of the Junction Fair Shopping Centre.
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The 109-place childcare centre would be built on an existing staff car park on Farquhar Street, with access via the shopping centre.
The proponent Stirling Property Funds, which operates the shopping centre, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tillys to run the centre.
At a public voice meeting on October 18, councillors questioned the proponent about parking, emergency evacuation of children, accessibility and construction impacts on another childcare facility located across the road.
The development size would need 27.25 car spaces. The 19 current staff car parking places would be removed and 12 employee parks provided for the childcare centre.
The applicant said parents and caregivers would use the undercover shopping centre parking, and lodged a traffic report which said the 200-space covered car park was "underutilised" with up to 100 spaces available during morning and afternoon peak times.
However Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the car park operated at an historical deficiency and it was hard to find a park there after 4pm.
The proposal includes a fire-rated cot refuge area in case of emergency. Labor councillor Margaret Wood questioned how the centre would evacuate babies and children in wheelchairs who can't walk down fire stairs, while fellow Labor councillor Carol Duncan mentioned the babies area held 20 cots, but the evacuation area only had space for six cots.
Ben Rapely from CKDS Architecture, who spoke on behalf of the proponent, said the evacuation would be the same as for people with disabilties in any other building and that an evacuation plan was being developed with Tillys. He said the cots in the emergency space would only be used temporarily, so multiple babies could be put into each cot.
Michelle Richards, who works at Imagine early Learning Centre across the road from the site, spoke against the proposal. She raised issues with the impact of construction works on Imagine, particularly while babies were sleeping.
Mr Rapely said hard scaffolding could be put up to reduce construction impacts and there was no demolition necessary, which would have been a major source of noise.
Stirling Property Funds head of property Scott Girard said his company had been working collaboratively with council planning staff on the project and that it would comply with Building Code of Australia requirements.
He said the centre would provide "much-needed" childcare positions for Newcastle, having identified a shortfall of 146 places within the local area.
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