City childcare robs Chippo residents
by Michael Gormly
The City Council is to provide a childcare centre for the use of its staff. But, while the original idea was for an in-house crèche, staff have decided to place it for the ‘short to medium term’ in Chippendale’s Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, depriving local residents of their community meeting space.
The idea originated with a motion from Greens Councillor Chris Harris, unanimously supported. It called on staff to ‘prepare a report on the provision and operation of an in-house childcare centre’.
Cr Harris said his intention was for the centre to be located in Council’s office block in Kent St, behind Town Hall.
The Pine Street Centre was Chippendale’s only community meeting space. It is already temporarily occupied by the Surry Hills Childcare Centre, displaced during the building of the $22m Community Centre in Crown St, soon to be completed.
Chippendale residents were expecting their meeting space to be returned, and had not been told of the new plan according to resident Lindsay Charles.
‘We have been disappointed we haven’t been able to use the space,’ she said.
‘Meetings there used to get 80 to 100 people but Council’s recent open day event had to be held outdoors in the rain, so the attendance was very poor.’
She questions how effective the new centre will be: ‘How is a feeding mother supposed to get to Pine Street ‘ drive there every four hours from the city or Council’s offices in Redfern”
‘New community space will be provided in the CUB [Fraser’s Broadway] development but that might not be ready for ten years,’ she said.
Cr Harris would like to see the centre located in the Marconi Room at Town Hall, which opens onto an outdoor terrace overlooking Druitt St.
‘It can be easily secured and with some shadecloth it would make an ideal recreational area for the kids,’ he said.
However the terrace is set for demolition during the current refurbishment of the old Town Hall, which will restore a large flight of sandstone steps originally mirroring the existing flight connecting Druitt St with the side entrance. The terrace and Marconi Room are used as a polling booth during elections.
