Childcare centre development at Seaside Drive, Lake Cathie, gets the nod

About 40 jobs will be created as a result of the Seaside Drive childcare centre development at Rainbow Beach Estate.

The developer, John Stevens, emphasised how the centre would support the economy.

"One of the things we pride ourselves on is we always buy locally so the money stays within the local economy," he said.

Local tradespeople will also benefit from the construction.

The childcare centre will include a music room, cafeteria, library, performing arts theatre and science lab/LEGO room.

"We always try to do something different and we always try to learn from our previous centres what the children want," Mr Stevens said.

"We put a lot of time and money into designing the right outdoor play spaces."

The centre will provide care and educational experiences for 125 children.

Mr Stevens said the centre would probably look after about 200 families in total.

Construction is planned to start in about three weeks with the developer hoping to have the centre built in November in time to open at the start of 2021.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Development Assessment Panel approved the development application, subject to conditions, at its February 26 meeting.

The childcare centre site is in a central location within a rapidly establishing residential subdivision, the council report said.

The proposal was amended during the assessment of the application with changes made to car parking, acoustic treatment of plant and equipment, and landscaping.

The childcare centre will be built in stage one of the development with a manager's residence and multi-purpose room to come in the next stage.

There will be 33 parking spaces.

The council report said the site was considered suitable for the development and the application addressed relevant planning controls.

One submission was received during the exhibition of the development application.

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