West Wimmera councillors voted unanimously to go ahead with the childcare service plan, which requires state and federal government approvals prior to becoming finalised.

The service will operate out of the Edenhope Kindergarten building, with two rooms offering childcare for children under and over three years old.

This comes after West Wimmera shire council received strong feedback from their initial enrollment period for the new service.

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As a result of that process, more families expressed a need for the service than the

number of places available for children under three. There were enough places available for children over three to accommodate the demand.

A waiting list will now be established for those children who cannot be accommodated in the first round of offers.

Staff recruitment for the service has also started, with job adverts appearing online and social media.

Chief Executive Officer David Bezuidenhout said the hope was to open the service on April 26, the start of term two, however that would only happen if all the government approvals were met, and the appropriate number of qualified staff had been recruited.

"Unfortunately, there are no guarantees as to the start date, but we will update families with any new information throughout the process," he said.

The decision brought to a head a year-long campaign on behalf of parents in Edenhope to bring childcare options to the town, after the departure of the town's sole day childcare provider in 2021.

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One of the mothers spearheading the campaign, Danielle Grindlay, said the decision from councilors came as a relief to the many families resting their hopes on the new service.

"Thank goodness the council has acknowledged all the work and the huge need there is be formalising this pilot program," she said.

"There are now dozens of families relying on this childcare coming. They have paid their deposit and are waiting.

"I think we would have been very shocked after seeing how much demand there is if it didn't go ahead."

Ms Grindlay said she hoped the Edenhope situation inspired other towns in regional Australia to demand action on childcare availability and provided a model for government to invest in the necessary service.

"This is a pilot, this is to show what this means to communities but also that is of financial benefit to councils, an economic benefit," she said.

"Our council has gone out on a limb here because there is no state of federal appetite to make this happen in regional Australia. It is left up to the private sector and they do not have the business appetite for it.

"Hopefully it does set a precedent. It is part of a much larger cultural shift."

Significant interest in the childcare program was also discovered in nearby Goroke during the enrollment period.

At its Wednesday meeting, the council approved an investigation into a potential family day care service at the Goroke kindergarten to operate three days a week.

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