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Bayside Families in Limbo
by JON ANDREWS
1 NOV 2011
BAYSIDE Council is shutting its two childcare centres, leaving more than one hundred families in disarray.
Some parents say they will struggle to find new places, and may have to give up work.
Nearly 200 children attend the Hampton and Sandringham centres, earmarked for staggered shutdowns over the next two years.
Hampton mother Janine Auditore said the Bluff Rd centre closure was a life-changing decision. “Everyone is so shocked - my boy is two next month and will have nowhere to go,” Ms Auditore said.
“We love the atmosphere there, it is a real shame and we don’t know if we can get in anywhere else.”
Sandringham mother Tracey Reed said she was “totally blindsided and stunned” by the decision to shut.
Hampton has 35 places and will finish at the end of next year, while Sandringham, with 45 places, will partly close in December next year and completely shut by December 2013.
There are 197 children from 149 families using the centres now.
Mayor Alex del Porto said the cost of operating the two small and ageing centres would increase significantly when new staffing ratio regulations come into force next year.
He said more private childcare centres were being built, and savings would be better spent on providing council kindergarten services.
“I understand parents feel upset and displaced, but they won’t be left high and dry,” Cr del Porto said. “We will need millions of dollars for kindergartens, which we see as a priority service.”
More than 50 concerned parents who held crisis talks last Wednesday night, feared it was a cash grab, with the combined sites estimated to be worth more than $3 million.
Cr del Porto denied the decision was about real estate values.
Original Article can be viewed at:
http://bayside-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/families-in-limbo-1/
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