Despite the City of Kwinana’s concerns about parking and bushfires, a single-storey childcare centre has been approved for development on Ovens Road in Mandogalup.
These concerns were heard by the Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel on June 6.
The childcare centre will be at the corner of Quartermaine Boulevard and Ovens View Road.
It will be licensed for 96 children which will require the employment of 19 staff.
The approved operating hours are 6.30am-6.30pm.
In residents’ submissions to the city concerns were raised about the approval included the potential for increased traffic on an already busy road, parking overflowing on to nearby streets, noise levels and bushfire safety concerns.
The city had 22 conditions they wished to be met by the developers.
To combat noise concerns one of the conditions stated that children were not allowed to play outdoors before 7am.
But two conditions were discussed at length by the developers and city councillors at the June 6 panel – the need for a reversing bay in the carpark to be kept free through a bollard or wheel stop; and the for a bushfire emergency evacuation plan to be prepared, kept on site always and reviewed annually.
A Qube property representative argued that placing a bollard or wheel-stop would prevent waste vehicles from being able to use the reversing bay.
They representative also argued that the development of an evacuation plan was outside the scope of the planning framework and at the discretion of the childcare operator.
The panel agreed that the condition for the reversing bay to be kept clear at all times using a bollard or wheel-stop should be included within the planning conditions.
However, the panel also said that a bushfire emergency evacuation plan was outside the scope of local government.
The conditions also state the centre must provide parking for 22 vehicles and a parking management plan must be developed showing staffing levels during peak hours.