As previously reported, parents at Coventry Childcare Centre are unhappy about their children being unexpectedly relocated because other centres are being renovated.
Local MPs have also expressed dismay that a major injection of State funds could lead to the closure of a highly rated childcare operation where no renovations were planned.
Ahead of a council vote on 16 September, parents used question time last week to seek reassurance that officers were doing more than merely ‘investigating alternatives’.
Parents pressed council officers on what work remained before the vote, what councillors would be told, and whether key risks around relocation sites, funding and family impacts would be resolved in time.
Kylie Bennetts, council’s general manager for community wellbeing, said “significant work” had been undertaken since the council decision two weeks earlier, including briefings for councillors and approaches to state and federal ministers.
She said the mayor had written to relevant ministers and local MPs, while officers had met the chief of staff to Federal Minister Jess Walsh to discuss whether a Community Child Care Fund Special Circumstances Grant could offer a funding pathway.
Bennetts said officers had also sought clarity from the Department of Education because initial analysis suggested the eligibility pathways were unclear.
Officers and independent experts had visited the vacant Evoke and Busy Bees as alternate sites, with a valuer and asset consultant also inspecting Busy Bees. The Department of Education was invited but did not respond before the visits went ahead.
A survey of Coventry families had closed, with responses coded before redacted and themed information is provided to councillors. Officers had also developed principles for a possible subsidy program if Coventry was used as a temporary home for Clarendon.
A dedicated childcare support officer had started work, enrolments had been paused pending a final decision, and officers were continuing talks with Clarendon, Lilian Cannam and South Melbourne Primary School about related relocation issues.
Councillor calls for options
Cr Libby Buckingham asked what practical support would be offered to Coventry families if the decanting proposal went ahead.
Bennetts said support could include one-on-one meetings with families, help to navigate alternative placements and clear contact points through the new childcare support officer.
She said council was also considering subsidy arrangements based on the principle that no family should be materially or financially disadvantaged if Coventry became Clarendon’s temporary home.
Buckingham also asked whether councillors would be given multiple options.
Bennetts said the report was still being drafted, but would include a range of options based on site visits, desktop research and survey responses.
More questions from limbo land
Coventry parents told TWiSK the timeframe for testing alternatives remained too tight. “All this work is great, but should have been done at the start — not because families and councillors requested it,” one parent said.
They also questioned the qualifications, background and scope of the support officer, and said the details of any federal grant application remained unclear.
There was support, however, for an independent assessment of the two alternative sites, with parent advocates keen to see the reports.
“Everyone is looking forward to some resolution so we can plan for next year, especially families with babies and children on the Coventry waitlist,” the advocate said.
