Stockland has announced it is extending its community building capabilities to provide much needed childcare facilities for future families across its residential masterplanned communities.
Work has commenced on the first childcare centre located in the heart of Stockland’s award-winning Aura community, with a pipeline of another six centres underway across Australia.
The revolutionary $3.7 million centre will feature a 952 square metre outdoor play space and provide a ground-breaking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) focused approach to early learning education.
Ben Cantwell, Stockland General Manager for Medium Density and Retirement Living Development, said: “We are excited to start construction on Stockland’s first standalone childcare centre, outside of the retail portfolio.”
“This development is in line with our strategy to deliver the best communities in the country – providing excellent outcomes for residents and providing key infrastructure close to home.
“Approximately 1.3 million children are expected to attend some form of child care service over 2017-18. With Australia’s birth and population rate consistently on the rise and revenues set to increase by 34.2% to $12.1 billion by 2019-20, we see growth in the sector as a true opportunity[1].”
Stockland will develop and own each centre building, sourcing leading early education partners to run the centres. The new childcare centre at Aura will be operated by Goodstart Early Learning, Australia’s largest early learning provider.
Goodstart Early Learning Baringa will be co-located directly opposite the new Baringa Primary School which also offers a STEM focussed curriculum as well as a robotics laboratory, a recording studio and 3D printers. The childcare centre will offer 132 spaces to local families and is expected to open in January 2019.
Adrian Allen, Aura Project Director for Stockland, said the unique facility would mark a key milestone for the community.
“Providing our residents with access to innovative childcare and education options early on in the development lifecycle, gives future generations the best possible start in life and makes working easier for mums and dads,” Mr Allen said.
“We know how important education is to families and we look forward to providing our youngest residents with easy access to one of the Sunshine Coast’s leading childcare centres.
“Those children will then have the opportunity to further their STEM education at the Baringa State Primary School, which opened in January this year and features a robotics laboratory, a recording studio and 3D printers.”
The centre will be located directly opposite the Baringa State Primary School and be easily accessible via the Aura Veloway and the extensive network of dedicated walking and cycle paths.
Works are also underway for a new four new parks and a civic plaza within the suburb to provide a variety of new play areas and a dedicated space for events, festivals and fairs.
“Baringa is shaping up to be a thriving community that’s already leading the way in innovative parks, state-of-the-art learning hubs and sustainability initiatives,” Mr Allen said.
“More than 400 people are now calling the suburb home and we look forward to welcoming many more residents into our community this year.”
Construction is continuing on the Aura Business Park and work will start this year on the first residential stages of Aura Central, which upon completion will provide hundreds of jobs and new homes to locals.
