Perth families share concern after proposed early learning service is scrapped

An early learning service in the growing Perth suburb of Armadale is unlikely to go ahead because of opposition from the City of Armadale who requires the would-be service owners to build a slip lane in front of the business. 

Local businesses owner Erin Erceg, who owns and runs 11 Acre Farm and the popular Cubby Café on Nicholson Road in Forrestdale had intended to build Little Grots kindergarten, and had (with no advertising) built a waiting list of 500 families. 

In late December Ms Erceg gave up her four year development battle with the council saying that the latest request – to build a slip lane and implement other traffic treatments were something she had not anticipated or costed for. 

“Our hands are completely tied. We do not currently know when we will be able to complete the roadworks, how much it will cost, or when we can finally open the centre,” she reportedly wrote in an email to waitlist families.

Her plan was to operate a service adjacent to the existing 11 Acre Farm business. A traffic study commissioned by 11 Acre Farm suggested the slip lane request was inconsistent with the size of the venture and pointed out that stretch of Nicholson Road would likely have to be duplicated within a few years, so any work paid for by the business would be ripped up.

The Council’s position was that it was a safety issue, with a subsequent State Administrative Tribunal ruling supporting this perspective, after which time Ms Erceg agreed to pay $700,000 to upgrade the road – on top of the $100,000 already spent on lawyers and reports – in the hope they could open the centre and begin recouping costs with extra cashflow.

However, as work began contractors found the Serpentine Trunk main water pipe was closer to the surface than anticipated, which required further reporting to be provided to Water Corp and more delays, something which Ms Erceg said “was the straw that broke the camel’s back” for her small business.

Speaking with local news source WAtoday she explained that she and her team had attempted to create a unique kindergarten by meshing learning with the property’s working farm and food forest, but the hurdles had become too high.

“Our message [to the City of Armadale] is simple: be reasonable and flexible – as a small family business, we are trying to bring something valuable to the community, and the city’s rigid approach is jeopardising that,” she said.

“We’re asking for common sense – the road treatment is not proportionate to the scale of our business, and the costs are unsustainable for us as a family-run operation.”

Responding on behalf of the Council, CEO Joanne Abbiss said a slip lane and other treatments were fair and necessary for the safety of customers, staff, children and other road users, pointing to the 80km/h Nicholson Road being a part of the heavy vehicle road network that carried more than 8500 vehicles per day, including B-Double trucks.

“The proposed operation of a childcare centre with hundreds of children getting dropped off/picked up, with large numbers of queuing cars on a single-lane road that carries thousands of cars and oversize trucks travelling at high speed, means that these works are essential for the safety of all road users,” she said.

Access the original coverage of this story here.