Growth sparks kid care boom

THE number of childcare centres being built in the city’s northern corridor has exploded to meet demand from young families and first-home buyers.

Development applications for 13 new centres have been lodged with Gold Coast City Council this financial year.

While the figure is consistent with growth since 2011-12, most of the childcare centres spruiked this term are earmarked for northern suburbs Pimpama, Coomera and Ormeau.

The largest, proposed for Pimpama’s Dandaloo Court, will house 146 children and up to 30 teachers.

The council has received 75 applications for new childcare centres in the past six years, lifting the overall total citywide well past 200.

About 300,000 pre-primary school age children live in Queensland.

Leading demographer Mark McCrindle expected the increase of childcare centres on the Gold Coast to help the hip pockets of parents, cut waiting lists and force operators to provide additional services such as meals for kids.

“Childcare is a necessity for families and the pain point has been on the cost, but a significant increase in centres such as this will lead to greater services and greater affordability,” he said.

“In the Gold Coast’s north, as well as inland, we are now seeing surging development and those greenfield homes are being filled with young families and this is great news for the Gold Coast.

“The availability of childcare is also becoming a major decider for people when looking to buy homes.”

The latest application for a childcare centre on the Gold Coast included a single-level facility in Surfers Paradise’s Chevron Renaissance centre.

As the father of a child attending childcare, Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce president Martin Brady said he was aware of parents’ financial plight.

“(Childcare) is becoming an increasingly competitive marketplace so the more centres, we are likely to see either lower prices or increased services.

“There is no downside there being more centres.”

Under regulations introduced in 2014 new childcare centres are required to have a teacher-to-student ratio of two teachers per 22 children. to