AN 84-place childcare centre planned for Portland aims to relieve the shire’s childcare drought.

Victorian developers Jane and William Johnson are about to submit plans to Glenelg Shire Council to build the Portland Early Learning Centre in Richardson Street.

If approved, they hope to start building before the year is out, with the opening date slated for late 2025 or early 2026.

The business partners have already locked in a local operator, Jorgie Sarahs, who is director, provider and kinder teacher at the Heywood Early Learning Centre.

Ms Sarahs said the Portland centre would follow similar principles to Heywood: small groups of children, nature based, consistent staff and strong connections with educators and families, and flexible, cost-conscious programs.

“It’s exciting to be collaborating with the developers to bring an amazing service to help the Portland and surrounding communities,” she said.

“Jane and William saw the need for education and care in the early years in Portland. I’ve always worked in small services, so our aim is to keep a small-feel service and apply those philosophies and programs to a larger setting.”

The business partners, who are primarily residential developers, have owned land in Richardson Street for about 20 years.  They hope to develop an 18-lot housing subdivision and the childcare centre on the land.

“We’ve always seen a great future for Portland,” Ms Johnson said.  “We think it’s a great environment for families and we saw a need for more childcare in the growing town. 

“We hope our new childcare centre, if approved by council, will help address the current shortage in services and we are confident that Jorgie and her team will provide an excellent service to local families.  We wanted an operator with proven local experience and Jorgie was a perfect fit with her team already established at Heywood.”

The Johnsons were in town recently to meet Ms Sarahs for the first-time face to face.

Like Heywood, the Portland centre will offer government-funded kinder for three and four-year-olds and long-day care from 7.30am to 6pm, five days a week.

“There will be six rooms to cater for 84 children aged from 0-5 years, per day,” Ms Sarahs said.

“The rooms are designed for small groupings of children, to ensure that high-quality, personal care is maintained.

“There will be a sessional kindergarten space, with a wraparound service of before and after kinder for those families that need that.

“We’ll also be sharing staff with Heywood, and resources to work as a team between the two services.

“We’ll have the same philosophy as Heywood, about getting back to basics with lots of nature-based play, chickens and vegie garden. The building will be beautiful too.

“We’ll also be offering many different sessions to be flexible for families and help them save money where needed.”