A SOCIAL media campaign is rallying support for an early childhood education and
care centre in Yana Street, despite the Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal (VCAT) overruling the planning application earlier this month.
The
Facebook page “Supporters of Child Care & Kindergarten at 24 Yana Street”
started Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon boasted more than 100 supporters
amid an ongoing shortage in child care availability in the Swan Hill
region.
It comes after a permit for a 40-place centre at the Swan Hill
address was rejected through VCAT.
Nearby residents lodged the original legal
challenge, citing pedestrian and cyclist safety concerns, as well as noise and
visual impacts.
The page’s administrator Gabrielle Schammer said the page
showed how upset the community was about the VCAT decision.
“We’re just very
aware of the desperate need in the community for quality childhood education,”
she said.
The SuniTAFE Swan Hill campus diploma of children services teacher
said the waiting lists at most other child care services was “horrendous”.
“I
know of one family… the mother is on maternity leave, with another child, but
has had to continue paying for the [other] child to keep going [to child care],
for 12 months, just because they can’t afford to lose the place.”
Ms Schammer
said the lack of another childcare centre would impact on her students, in terms
of finding work placements, and local employment, but more importantly, the
effects of a lack of child care would be long lasting in the Swan Hill
community.
“We need to think about what adults we want in 20 years’ time,”
she said.
“If we want well-educated, well-adjusted, socially adaptable
adults, all the research shows what happens in early childhood is extremely
important.”
Applicant Marg Hartshorn said her family had not been surprised
by the reaction because countless families had enquired about the proposed child
care centre earlier in the planning approval process.
She hadn’t decided on
the next course of action, but hundreds of community members had asked her to
take it further.
“As a family we’d rather see someone else take care of it,
but as a community member you feel some responsibility — it’s a big decision,”
she said.
“There’s lots of people telling us to keep going, but someone has
to pay for that.”
She said she had urged those wishing to show their support
to write to politicians and media outlets.
Goodstart Early Learning state
manager Sharon Whiteman said their two Swan Hill centres had high demand,
varying from centre to centre and on different days of the week.
“Vacancies
vary from centre to centre however in Swan Hill there is high demand for early
learning and care places,” Ms Whiteman said.
