HUNDREDS more child care places will open up in the Hunter in the next two years if plans in the pipeline are approved.
Proposals for two new 100-place early learning centres have been lodged with Cessnock City Council, and there is a third planned for Maitland.
If approved, the first centre would occupy a site on North Avenue that has been vacant for more than a decade, and will be surrounded by established retail facilities and community services, and the second one will be on Deakin Street in Kurri Kurri.
Plans for both centres include five indoor learning rooms, outdoor play areas, and what the developer describes as "contemporary educational environments".
At the same time, initial planning and feasibility work is underway for a third childcare centre in Maitland.
The Raland Group, a privately owned property development and building company, is investing in the Hunter region due to its strong population growth, ongoing residential expansion and increasing demand for early learning services.
The data they rely on includes an average annual growth of about 10,000 new residents each year over the past decade across the Hunter, and the number of residential land releases either underway or planned for throughout state government-recognised growth corridors.
Raland Group's managing director, Rene Araiji, said the company did market analysis before committing to any developments, including reviews of existing centre capacity, occupancy levels, projected population growth, future residential supply, and the number of children aged 0-5 within each catchment.
"While we don't rely solely on waitlist data, discussions with operators consistently indicate that many established centres across the Hunter continue to operate at or near capacity, with waitlists common in several high-growth suburbs, particularly for nursery and toddler age groups," Mr Araiji said.
"This operator feedback, combined with demographic analysis, gives us confidence in the long-term demand for additional early learning services."
In terms of an operator, a national not-for-profit early childhood service provider has expressed an interest in leasing multiple centres, Mr Araiji said.
"Subject to obtaining planning approvals and construction commencing as anticipated, we expect the first of these centres could begin welcoming children within approximately 18-24 months," Mr Araiji said.
"Our objective is to deliver quality facilities as efficiently as possible to help meet the growing demand from local families."
Many Hunter families have experienced long waits to access childcare services as supply has failed to keep up with demand for many years, with many cases of expectant mothers trying to reserve places for their unborn children.
The lack of childcare availability and affordability has had significant impacts on families, with some waiting years to access services.
Once complete, the three proposed centres would "represent an investment of approximately $25 million", the developer said.
"As a developer, we believe social infrastructure should grow alongside housing and population," Mr Araiji said.
The state government has committed $27 million for 2000 early childhood education and care scholarships with grants of up to $35,000 for early childhood teaching qualification and $6000 for early childhood education and care.
