Parndana Community Children’s Centre one step closer to reality with planning consent given

An early childhood education and care (ECEC) facility in Parndarna, on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, is one step closer to reality with planning consent approved earlier this month. 

Governing Council Chair Stephanie Wurst said the approval was “a great reward” for the Council which formed from a working group in 2016 with the intention of addressing ECEC accessibility issues on the Island. 

“There has been a great need for childcare in the central and western district of the Island,” she told local news source The Islander Online. 

The project has had its share of obstacles. Despite the centre being given $1.8 million in Local Economic Recovery program funding to build the service on land adjacent to the Parndana school campus, an additional Black Summer grant of $975,000, which would allow a room for after-school care as well as an extra room for visiting child-related health practitioners, failed to come to fruition. 

Mrs Wurst said between 25 and 30 full-time jobs would be created from the childcare and after-school care offerings, vowing to find a way to provide these services in the centre.

“We are committed to continuing to find a solution to seek further funding for the after-school care component of the project to provide the community with the addition of this vital service,” she said.

All ECEC services on the island are at maximum capacity, Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly explained, describing the approval as a positive step forward for parents and families across the Island.

To read the original coverage of this story, please see here.