By Laura Michell
The Greater Sunshine Alliance is calling on Brimbank council to rethink the closure of the Sunshine Leisure Centre crèche.
Council has decided to close the crèche to repurpose the space for group fitness classes amid dwindling demand for child care at the centre.
The decision has been criticised by the alliance, which believes council should postpone the closure until an independent review of the proposal is completed.
“The crèche service is vital and needs to be reinstated immediately for our current families and those to come, as our community continues to grow over the next decade,” the group said.
“Locals are incredibly disappointed with the council’s response and expect a more proactive response that engages with us first, rather than telling us and then dismissing our concerns.”
Brimbank community wellbeing director Lynley Dumble said the crèche has been “significantly underutilised” for a number of years, even prior to COVID-19.
“From 2015 to 2018, there was an average of 5.2 visits per day to the crèche, but this dropped to 3.8 visits per day in 2019 prior to COVID. More recently this has dropped to two visits per day in February to March 2022, with only three families utilising the service,” she said.
“Its operation comes at a significant cost to council for a service with minimal use and therefore limited community benefit.
“Before the crèche closed, alternative child care options were first worked out for the three families using the crèche, so that they had nearby childcare options. All of these families did not have an issue with the crèche being closed.
”Other patrons with children can also use these alternative nearby childcare services.”
Ms Dumble said that while demand for the crèche has fallen since the leisure centre reopened post-lockdown, there has been an increase in demand for group fitness classes.
“A recent member survey with over 800 responses indicated less than one per cent of respondents used the crèche while it
also identified a large unmet demand for additional group fitness and gym programs,” she said.
“Council looks forward to providing these additional services to meet the needs of its members and visitors.
“Council must make decisions on the spending of public money that are financially responsible and sustainable for our residents.”
