The minutes for council meeting of October 12th are now available. Item 9.7 concerned the Elsternwick childcare. The actual motion read:
Crs Lipshutz/Pilling
In order to ensure the continuity of childcare in Elsternwick and align Elsternwick Children’s Centre with Council’s other long day care centres, Council seek the assistance of State Government to use all means available to enable the land at 269 Kooyong Road, Elsternwick (Lots 3 & 4) to continue to be used as a child care centre as it has for the past 21 years.
The MOTION was put and CARRIED unanimously.
We also request readers to make note of these sentences from the financial report also considered at this council meeting- “The forecast result expected for the financial year is an operating surplus of $8.95M as compared to the original adopted 2010-11 annual budget of $6.97M.
Please note that any surplus from day-to-day operations is used to accelerate capital works projects.”
Capital works obviously does not include childcare centres!
Glen Eira Debates 
October 15, 2010 at 12:23 PM
There’s a superb irony contained within the just released Annual Report. On page 11 there are these two paragraphs immediately following each other –
“Mackinnon Reserve Pavilion
The State Government contributed $500,000 towards the rebuilding of the pavilion at Duncan Mackinnon Reserve, Murrumbeena. Announced in December 2009 by Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs James Merlino MP,
the grant is part of the 2010–2011 Community Facility Funding Program — Major Facilities. The funding will allow the current ageing pavilion to be rebuilt and made more accessible for all users and spectators. Council committed
$700,000 in the 2009–2010 Budget to undertake the detailed design of the facility. For more information see Sport and recreational opportunities, page 45.
Kindergarten funding for universal access.
The State Government is responsible for implementing a new early learning initiative, which will see all four-year-old children spend 15 hours in kindergarten in the year prior to school — up from the current 10 hours. The State has more than $210 million to implement this initiative by 2013 and Council is strongly advocating to ensure that funds are directed to services within this community. In consultation with the local community and Allen Consulting Group, Council has provided advice to the State Government on ways to implement its goal of providing 15 hours of kindergarten. In order to meet the federal and state kindergarten policy objectives, the State Government will need to expand infrastructure. Kindergartens will need to be enlarged and new kindergartens built in order to accommodate the policy initiative. It is important for the State Government to not only fund the new services proposed in the plan, but also to provide funding for expansion of existing kindergartens. Without the funding there will be a shortfall of an estimated 285 four-year-old places in Glen Eira by 2013. For more information see Consultation and planning, page 12”
Thus it seems that for a sporting pavilion, Council CAN apply for a $500,000 dollar grant and expend $700,000 for DESIGN, and then another $7 to $9 million for completion. Yet, they are incapable of applying for a $500,000 grant for children’s hubs, when the shortfall has been known and written about for years and the completion would be nowhere near the millions expended on the grandstands and pavilion. Can anyone explain please why sporting pavilions are ratepayers’ responsibility and not essential services such as childcare, kindergartens, aged care, etc.etc.etc.?