Major Stanthorpe childcare centre faces permanent closure, with up to 70 children at risk

SDRC has only months to decide whether to shut down the facility, which could force more than 60 families to relocate.

SHUT DOWN: The Stanthorpe OSHC could be facing closure within months. Photo: iStock

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Stanthorpe families could be left in the lurch with one of the town’s major after-school care providers facing permanent closure under a council review.

The Southern Downs Regional Council-owned Stanthorpe Outside School Hours Care Service will lose its Corundum St premises on June 30, with Community Development Services advising there would be no opportunity for lease renewal.

The council must now decide whether to find a new home for the after-school care service, which currently caters to 73 children from 60 families, or scrap it entirely.

A report tabled at Wednesday’s council meeting stated the recent closure of Stanthorpe’s other major after-school hours care provider left the OSCH as one of few options for parents.

A proposal to open both potential courses of action to public consultation was put to councillors, with one council officer citing fears of community backlash should the service be shut down.

Deputy Mayor Ross Bartley said councillors would need details of financial implications before making a decision, with the current OSHC lease costing more than $17,000 a year.

Fellow councillor Stephen Tancred further stressed budgetary concerns, suggesting it would be cheaper and easier to end the service with its lease.

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“We’ve discussed this at a workshop before, and I thought we were making a loss of $500 to $1000 per student, per year, that was my recollection,” Cr Tancred said.

“I thought it might be easier to just write cheques to those families to subsidise them to attend another service.”

Councillors voted unanimously to take both options to community consultation.

SDRC took over the OSHC service in January, 2018, following the withdrawal of the Stanthorpe YMCA.

A council press release at the time stated “OSHC is a vital community program with a bright future and (SDRC) has every intention of finding a suitable location, and will consider growing the program where possible”.

Originally published as Major Stanthorpe childcare centre faces permanent closure, with up to 70 children at risk