Council has submitted a planning application for the Fern Street Children’s Centre. We anticipate that the advertising period of the proposed application should be open for feedback later in May 2020.

Residents in proximity to the proposed Children’s Centre will be notified by mail and signs installed at the site that the statutory process has opened. The information will provide contact details of the responsible planning officer should residents require additional information.

The proposed planning application will detail the development of a new state-of-the-art children’s centre for local families to improve the accessibility, quality and integration of early childhood services in Bayside’s south.

When complete, the Fern Street Children’s Centre will include a purpose built building, a sensory garden linking to FG Tricks Reserve and a newly upgraded playground. The Centre will provide for 3 and 4 year old kindergarten, a single multi-use room catering for occasional care, playgroup and community activities, an online toy library hire service and a maternal and child health consulting room for visits by appointment.

Following previous community feedback, amended plans now include the provision of fourteen on-site car parks that will be positioned to the east of the building. The building footprint has been reduced to allow for the provision of on-site parking. This will result in a reduced level of activity on the site.

The existing playground will be updated to include intergenerational exercise equipment. Designs for the upgraded playground will be made available for feedback in coming weeks. These playground improvements are not being considered as part of this planning application.

The Victorian Government is providing $1.6million towards the $6million project.

More information

We will update you again once the planning application is live on Council's website.