Daycare proposal criticised

CHILDCARE tycoon John Wall has urged Woolworths to rethink plans to open a new daycare centre in Trinity Beach.

The sector veteran, who has built more than 400 centres across Australia, said he had crunched the numbers and the area could not support another player in the game.

He is already building a new centre at Bluewater Estate after conducting a thorough needs assessment that found there were already nine centres on the northern beaches supplying 724 places.

“Developers and corporations just don’t understand the due diligence that is required,” he said.

“If you’ve got 100 children between zero and five, only 34 per cent across Australia are available for a long daycare centre.”

Woolworths has incorporated childcare into its plans for a new shopping centre at Trinity Beach, about 1.5km away from Mr Wall’s own centre.

“I build mum and dads John Wall-designed childcare centres right across the country,” he said.

“If we don’t get the numbers right, we don’t do it.

“They need to do their homework and their due diligence.

“This bit of recklessness is only going to hurt mums’ and dads’ back pockets.”

A Woolworths spokeswoman said the company was comfortable with its current plan.

“The development application will continue to be assessed by council and we hope to receive approval shortly,” she said.

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