Front page, today’s Caulfield Leader
Kids are not all right: Crisis looms for kindergarten places
Jenny Ling
Glen Eira Council is under fire from parents – again – to provide adequate pre-school and childcare places to avert a crisis.
The Carnegie Uniting Church pre-school is to close in 2012 after 80 years following the sale of land at the corner of Neerim and Toolambool Roads.
The Council hoped the kinder could be relocated to Carnegie Primary School but the option has already been ruled out by the school. Principal Linda Jones said it was only ever a temporary solution. ‘Should the enrolment growth exceed the classroom space then long-term options must be sought,” Ms Jones said.
‘I believe it’s a responsibility of the local government.’
The parents’ plight comes after news of the closure of the Elsternwick Childcare Centre next year.
More than a 100 people have signed a petition demanding the council allocate land at Carnegie’s Packer Park for a new kinder and the State Government to provide its infrastructure. Save Carnegie Kindergarten spokeswoman Susan Harper said letting it close was ‘unacceptable’.
‘The State Government is actively working towards helping provide solutions but the only long-term solution is for the local council to contribute as well’, Ms Harper said.
The public though have told the council though they want Packer Park to be an open space.
The Council’s own Universal Kindergarten Access in Glen Eira report found seven kinders were needed to meet future demand.
Council spokesman Paul Burke said kindergartens were a State Government responsibility.
Glen Eira Debates 
October 26, 2010 at 10:12 AM
The closure of Carnegie kinder was always going to happen – this has been known for years and years and yet again nothing has happened to find a real and viable solution for families of young children by this council
Shrugging it of as Paul Burke has done is just unacceptable
Show me another council that has this same attitude toward its residents on the issues of kindergarten provision!! I doubt if you will find one
There are so many early childhood planning initiatives being undertaken federally and at the state level but this council is going to do nothing about a very basic level of provision. The guise that it is ‘not local government’s responsibility’ just won’t work with the community any longer.
October 26, 2010 at 11:10 AM
The following data compares 2 neighbouring councils and their commitment to kindergarten places. We’ve looked at Bayside, Kingston and Glen Eira – their 2006 overall populations, and especially the numbers of children who are four years and under.
Bayside – 96,000 and 6,000 children four and under
Kingston – 147,000 and 8,000 children four and under
Glen Eira – 123,000 and 7,657 children four and under.
How many kindergarten facilities (ie. buildings) are council owned?
Bayside: “Bayside City Council provides 14 facilities for community-managed kindergarten services and a central enrolment program on behalf of 20 local kindergartens.” (http://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/inthenews_09072010b.htm)
Kinston: “The City of Kingston owns and maintains 21 (out of 24) of these kindergarten buildings. The City of Kingston does not directly operate kindergarten”.
Glen Eira: “Glen Eira City Council’s role with kindergartens is limited to owning 10 buildings from which kindergartens operate and conducting the central enrolment program”. http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Files/Kindergarten_reportfinal.pdf
So Kingston with nearly the same 0 – 4 population figures as Glen Eira PROVIDES DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF BUILDINGS, whilst Bayside with 75% of the 0 to 4 population figures provides 40% more buildings. Shame, shame, shame!!!!!!
October 26, 2010 at 11:27 AM
For a super rich council with millions in reserve it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is something drastically wrong with the way this council is being run. Priorities are arse backwards when it comes to those services that are of greatest importance to the community – such as child care and aged care. Instead millions upon millions are squandered on tearing down pavilions, building new ones at exhorbitant costs, and generally ignoring what the community wants. So called council plans in no way reflect what is required. For god’s sake councillors – take the reins for once in your lives and stop the bullshit!
October 26, 2010 at 4:30 PM
My cildren are now in their twenties, but the issues still remain the same – inadequate kindergarten places. There is a definite expectation that council provide such facilities, regardless of what administrators think. Community run kindergartens are the stepping stones to building strong local communities. But is anyone listening? More to the point, is anyone prepared to challenge a corporate agenda that is all about revenue raising and cost saving?
October 26, 2010 at 6:54 PM
Glen Eira Council strongly indicated at a DPC meeting I attended
that children were not to be encouraged in or around Activity
Centres. They were to be for young single people or childless
couples. Hence the bulldozing of a childrens playground wasn’t
seen as a great loss. Its why great emphasis has been placed on
1- and 2-bedroom units, knowing that they are unsuitable for
families. Its also why pedestrian safety in Carnegie isn’t a
town-planning consideration.
With no open space, unsafe pedestrian routes to the open space
over 1km away, and an increasing number of accessways to
basement carparking for 3- and 4-storey developments that fail
to meet even the basic requirements of the Australian Standard
AS/NZS 2890.1:2004, Council has formed the view that children
are to be discouraged from the precinct. The loss of
kindergarten facilities are a natural first step. Council is
also of the opinion that Carnegie Primary School has an excess
of open space so chose it as their preferred site for a future
kindergarten. Perhaps one day the Seat of Oakleigh will have
no government primary schools to match the closure of all
government secondary schools from the electorate.
October 26, 2010 at 7:40 PM
Paul Burke is 100% correct when he states that the provision of Kindergartens is a State Government responsibility. Also the statistics fail to take into account the provision of Private Kindergartens in Glen Eira.The Church has kicked out the Kindergarten not the Council and this is not the first case of this Church action. The excuses of the Carnegie Scool are pathetic. Look at Caulfield Primary.
October 26, 2010 at 8:05 PM
I see in the Special Council meeting it states under Opportunities that ‘We look forward to additional public open space during 2010–2011 when Council…achieves better facilities and access to the centre of Caulfield Racecourse (Crown Land) for community use’.
But hang on, isn’t there a notice around the racecourse at the moment for the MRC to use more of the centre of the racecourse for carparking and therefore LESS community space?
October 27, 2010 at 3:50 PM
Below the current online comments in the Caulfield Leader –
Karen
writes:
Posted on
27 Oct 10 at 01:24pm
‘it’s not our responsibility’ is a pathetic excuse. Come on councillors we already have ridiculous waiting lists for Kinder places. How are parents supposed to cope if your apathy closes another centre?
Kylie Riha-Jones
writes:
Posted on
26 Oct 10 at 09:53pm
If it wasn’t for a group of concerned parents Carnegie Kindergarten would probably have closed. The Kinder is run by a Committee of Management of parents. This group changes each year as children join or leave. It was up to this changing group to try and save the kinder and retain the kinder’s wonderful staff. Ann Barker, surrounding kinders and Carnegie Primary School helped. The Council did not. The Council did not stand beside us and fight to retain this kinder. It did not provide advice or personnel to oversee this process. The Council was not represented at any kinder meetings I attended. It seemed too scared to become involved citing it as a State responsibility. We were fighting for Carnegie to keep an essential service. Not just for ourselves but for future families. We needed help but it was not given. We needed a site where a kinder could operate but we didn’t have one. It has been a frustrating process. Thanks to the Save Carnegie Kinder Group and Susan Harper. These people have given there all to try and find a solution. It seems a temporary solution has been found and I thank you for your hard hard work.
Leanne (CPS Mother)
writes:
Posted on
26 Oct 10 at 04:14pm
Glen Eira City Council’s “excuse” for not wanting to use the Bowling Green at Packer Park for the Kinder is because “there is a lack of green space” within it’s Municipality. This might well be the case overall but we are very fortunate to live in Carnegie where there is an abundance of parks – Lord Reserve, Packer Park, Rosanna Street – just to name a few. Turning a bowling club in Carnegie into another park isn’t going to help the people of say – Caulfield North.
And Glen Eira Council, where was the “need” for more green space when you were wanting to sell off the bowling club as housing lots?
Fed up
writes:
Posted on
26 Oct 10 at 01:45pm
People need to read the analysis in the comments of the blogsite Glen Eira Debates to get a real understanding of how derelict this council is in its services to the community. https://gleneira.wordpress.com
Amy Gason
writes:
Posted on
26 Oct 10 at 01:06pm
Kinder kids in Carnegie and Glen Eira in general are getting a rough deal – there have not been enough places for local kids – every year of late – not just for 2011. Packer Park would be a great spot for a community kinder – lets be a bit kinder to our kinder kids!