NORTHERN Grampians chief executive Justine Linley has labelled council’s decision to close a childcare centre as extremely difficult.
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Council decided at the meeting on Monday night to close Stawell’s Taylors Gully Children’s Centre, which will mean 11 staff redundancies.
“We’ve been working on a range of different options to keep the service running over the past 12 to 18 months, but it has now got to a stage where numbers and demand have plummeted so low that we can’t reign the costs in any further,” Ms Linley said.
“We decided the best way forward for everyone was to close the centre - it was a decision that no council ever wants to make.”
The centre runs at just 14.4 per cent occupancy.
The industry standard is between 82 and 95 per cent.
Ms Linley said 34 families used the centre, but not all used it full-time.
“For some families it was the occasional half day a week or a fortnight,” she said.
“We will work directly with every one of those families to find alternate arrangements.”
Ms Linley said council’s maternal and child health services in Stawell and Marrang and Cooinda kindergartens would not be affected by the closure.
She said council would also look at re-deployment or re-training for the centre’s 11 staff.
“Not all the staff are full-time, most are part-time and casual,” she said.
“We understand this is a difficult situation and we acknowledge the tremendous support of our staff.”
Parents took to the Mail-Times Facebook page on Tuesday to voice their concerns.
Parent Karina Rowe said she was not notified about the closure.
“Why didn't council reduce the fees? she said.
“This is just another step towards making Stawell a ghost town.”
Jessica Hodder said the closure would be difficult for parents who worked 9am to 5pm and needed childcare outside kindergarten hours.
Centre staff were unable to comment on the issue.
