NEWS
Families in New Farm and surrounding inner-city areas now face an even tougher time finding child care following the announcement by provider C&K it plans to sell its Fortitude Valley centre to property developers.
If the sale proceeds, it will mean inner-city families have lost two C&K centres in less than three years with the community-based association providing no convenient nearby replacements.
At a heated meeting between parents and C&K management earlier this month, a motion of no confidence was passed in the group’s chief executive officer, Barrie Elvish. Parents were angry that the Robertson Street centre’s closure would aggravate a shortage of quality child care in the Valley/New Farm area and cause them to drive longer distances to and from alternative centres. A further meeting was expected to be held tonight (Wednesday, 31 August 2011) at which C&K board members were to meet concerned parents.
The Independent understands C&K plans to vacate its Robertson Street centre and use the sale proceeds to help establish a new state headquarters and child care facilities on a former Education Department site at Ashgrove where it would be collocated with the Hear and Say Centre for deaf children.
C&K, formerly the Creche and Kindergarten Association of Queensland, established its first day nursery for use by working women in the Valley in 1907. The closure of the Robertson Street centre would mean the inner-city has lost two child care centres operated by C&K in less than four years.
In late 2008 the C&K-operated Kindercraft centre formerly on the roof of City Hall closed because of concerns about its age, accessibility in the event of fire, and the need to renovate City Hall.
But plans announced by C&K at the time to open a new day care centre at the Brisbane City Council’s Green Square in St Pauls Terrace have never eventuated. At the time the state government committed about $1 million to assist the association establish a replacement child care facility.
The Independent understands the government’s commitment was made to enable the Green Square centre to be established, but C&K did not agree to sign a 20-year peppercorn lease with the Brisbane City Council on the grounds it could not be guaranteed its rent would not jump to commercial rates after the lease expired.
