Two new childcare centres are scheduled to be built in Rockwood in the near future.
At the May 28 Guelph-Eramosa council meeting, planning consultant Rachel Martin presented a site plan application submitted for a Sacred Heart Child Care Centre in Rockwood for children up to four years old.
The proposed childcare facility will be located west of Sacred Heart Catholic School to the back of the property and will be 862 square metres.
The building will contain three classrooms (infant, toddler and pre-school) and will employ nine new staff.
“The development includes additional parking, pedestrian connections, outdoor play spaces as well as the facility building, which is to be a separate building from the school,” Martin said.
The proposed facility conforms to all zoning bylaw and official plan requirements.
Councillor Mark Bouwmeester asked whether the pedestrian walkways were included in the Bonarrow residential development plan.
Public works director Harry Niemi said there are two connections from the Bonarrow subdivision accounted for in the subdivision plan that will connect with the new childcare facility.
Mayor Chris White asked if there was sufficient parking.
“The zoning bylaw requires a total of 80 parking spaces,” Martin said.
“That includes the school and the childcare centre and currently there are 72 spaces and they are providing the additional eight spaces.”
Bouwmeester also announced Rockwood Centennial Public School will also be building a new childcare centre to serve children up to four years old.
“There will shortly be licensed child care at Sacred Heart and shortly there’ll be licensed childcare at Rockwood Centennial Public School, so I think … that’s fantastic News,” Bouwmeester said.
Neither the Rockwood Centennial or Sacred Heart sites will offer before and after school care.
However, the childcare centre at Sacred Heart will also offer the EarlyON program (which is the new equivalent of the Early Years program.)
“This is all great stuff,” White said. “This is great service. We’ve got a lot of parents … right now they’re driving to Guelph to do all of it.
“This is huge; it adds a level of service to the schools that we very much need.”
