Childcare centre and townhouse development slated for Weston

Weston Creek is set to welcome a new 103-place childcare centre as part of an almost $6 million dual development.

A development application to build six townhouses and a childcare centre in Weston at a cost of $5,896,800 has been lodged with the ACT government on behalf of developer Altitude Properties.

If approved, the two-storey development will be built on a 2583-square-metre block at the corner of Heysen Street and Bellette Street.

It will be opposite an approved $7.7 million 21-dwelling residential development – a project that has raised height and privacy concerns among community members.

The latest project earmarked for the suburb is located in the Defence Housing estate at Fetherston​ Ridge but was sold to private developers in mid-2015.

Each townhouse will include three bedrooms, a north-facing courtyard and two secure car spaces.

Parking for residents and childcare workers will be located inside a joint basement and undercroft car park however, residential and commercial car spaces will be clearly separated, according to the application.

The part-basement, part-undercroft has been designed to match the block’s slope.

A 1.8-metre-high fence will separate the proposed townhouses and childcare centre, while screening will be included on all rear residential windows overlooking the centre’s outdoor play area.

Architect Hugh Gordon said he had tried to keep the scale of the project as restrained as possible.

“We’ve certainly tried to keep the scale at a fairly low level with lots of natural materials like stone, timber,” he said.

“We’ve tried to break up the facade as far as possible – it’s got quite a domestic feeling although it is a commercial building.”

He said the design also aimed to maintain as much privacy between the residential and commercial components of the project as possible.

The development application also addresses potential concerns about the proximity of the childcare centre to the Tuggeranong Parkway: “It is protected from the sight, smell, fumes and noise of the road by a substantial green buffer and partial embankment north of the bridge.”

Weston Creek Community Council chairman Tom Anderson said the site in Weston was a good fit for a childcare centre, as long as vehicle fumes were not an issue for children using the outdoor play area.

“There’s no childcare centre in Molonglo at the moment so I would imagine demand for that,” he said.

“We’ve got a regeneration in Weston Creek: older people are selling and new people people are coming in.

“Most of the schools are full and demand for childcare is high.”

The site is close to the Orana Steiner School and the Islamic School of Canberra.

The Islamic School could be forced to close due to the withdrawal of federal funding.