Kids? Not in my backyard, say residents

Leichhardt faces a “childcare crisis” and must build new childcare centres as a matter of urgency, Mayor Darcy Byrne has said.

Council has allocated $10 million for three such facilities and is currently evaluating four potential sites; Leichhardt Park, Marion St in Leichhardt, Hamilton St in Rozelle and Darley Rd in Leichhardt.

Mr Byrne said it was time to show political leadership and address the chronic childcare shortage.

“There will be a temptation for local councillors to find political advantages in opposing new centres in any location that we nominate,” he said.

“If we choose not to proceed with every childcare centre that someone is opposed to, it’s a recipe for doing nothing at all.”

Mr Byrne said the issue was not just one of service provision but equity, to ensure parents – and particularly women – have the freedom to return to the workforce if and when they choose.

A general meeting of Council last week drew large crowds opposed to the construction of childcare centres on their street. Several residents voiced concerns about the potential for increased traffic were a centre to be built near them.

But an online survey conducted by Council found overwhelming support for new childcare centres, with more than 80 per cent of respondents supporting each of the four proposed sites.

Marnie Wirth moved to Rozelle in early May and has been unable to find a suitable place for her 5 year-old son Baz, and consequently has been unable to return to her job as a teacher. As a single parent with no family in the area, that is proving debilitating.

“The childcare situation is the only thing between me and my career, and some form of economic freedom,” she said.

Ms Wirth, who is on four waiting lists at different childcare centres, is frustrated by the rules of some facilities which limit their morning and after-school care to kindergarten students. Ms Wirth needs to find morning and day care for Baz because teaching requires her to be at work by 8 o’clock.

“The governments and councils need to recognise that they’ve got to keep up with the need,” she said.

Ms Wirth has met many other local mothers struggling with the same difficulties.

“They’ve got the career, they’ve got everything else in place – the only thing stopping them is the lack of childcare,” she said.

A detailed report into childcare provision in the Leichhardt LGA, finalised in February, showed deep frustration at the lack of childcare places available in the area. The report quantified the current shortfall at 284 places and, with a growing number of young families in the area, forecast that to increase to 443 by 2021.