Wollongong families are scrambling to find alternative care arrangements after they received notice that their Mangerton childcare centre will close indefinitely in less than two weeks.
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Goodstart Early Learning in Phillips Crescent will close on May 1 as work begins to eliminate mould from the centre.
"It is an enormous inconvenience for our families and stressful our team but the extensive work that's required can't be carried out unless we close," Goodstart's state manager Melinda Harrington said.
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But the move has left parents frantically looking for somewhere else to place their children in a city where childcare is already in short supply.
"It's just not feasible to find childcare in under two weeks," one parent said.
She said she was told that families from the Mangerton centre would be prioritised for openings at the four other Goodstart centres in the region, but she had called around and two had no vacancies, while at another she had put her daughter's name on the waiting list.
The mother said her daughter was in the preschool room and she was concerned she could miss out on a transition to school program.
She also expressed concern for single-parent families or those where the parents did not have sick leave or annual leave to take if their children found nowhere else to go.
Another mother with two children at the centre echoed this sentiment.
"Without daycare it means people can't work and... it puts people's jobs on the line," she said.
She said she was lucky to have the flexibility of her own business and family members to plug the gaps, but that was not sustainable.
She too said it was difficult to find childcare in Wollongong, with her eldest child not receiving a place until she was 15 months old, despite having been on a waiting list four months prior to her birth.
"It's really, really tricky to find anywhere with capacity," she said.
A third mother with an infant at the centre said the move could potentially put a lot of financial stress on the family.
"I just started my own business, so if I don't go to work, I don't get paid," she said.
She said it was apparent that the mould had been an issue for a "little while" and whoever made the decision to close now had not considered the families.
The parents were keen to emphasise that their issues did not lie with the Mangerton centre's staff or director, who they said were great.
"We're just devastated because the staff are amazing," one mother said.
Ms Harrington said Goodstart would keep families up-to-date on the progress of the work.
"We're working fast and hard to ensure children have the early learning and care they need and where possible we hope their educators will move with them to other centres in the area," she said.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
