New Warrnambool childcare centre plans adjusted

Brightstart Early Learning Centre wants to open a 150-place child care centre on the corner of Dales and Aberline roads - and that is still the plan.

But the rise in building costs over the past few years has set back the project which had hoped to be under construction by now.

Chief executive officer Brent Wilson - who has had a long involvement in operating numerous centres in Victoria for more than 25 years - said he had considered dumping the whole project because building costs made it difficult to move forward.

"At no stage did we want to dump it...rather than scrap the project we've decided to keep it moving forward," Mr WIlson said.

He said when tenders came in they were well above what they were expecting and he was redesigning the building to bring costs down.

"It's too expensive to build in its current design," he said.

"We're making amendments to get the building works back within budget."

It means some of the "bells and whistles" and "bulk" of the design would have to be adjusted but the project would still cater for 150 children.

"It will still look good," he said, but it won't look as "bulky" from the street.

Mr Wilson said the funding was ready to go for an adjusted design with the aim now to start building in the first quarter of next year.

"We're doing everything we can," he said.

"We've already spent a huge amount of money in design and overall civil and engineering to find out it's too expensive to build.

"Now we've got to do it again. That shows how serious we are."

He said last time he did a needs assessment for the city, there were about 200 families on the waiting list of the main centres for care.

Last month, the city council said its waiting list was in excess of 400 people.

Mr Wilson said he was committed to building a childcare centre to help alleviate the issues and take the pressure off parents.

"It's ridiculous. Some parents can't work because they can't get care for their children. Some workplaces can't get staff because their kids have no where to go," Mr Wilson said.

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