Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre faces closure amid overhaul

A much-loved Sydney early-learning centre faces closure as the State Government stalls negotiations on whether it will renew the lease of the business.

Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre’s Gretha Reed fears the lease for her business will not be renewed by the State Government.

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More than 250 families are set to be left without a preschool and daycare centre for their children as the much-loved Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre faces closure amid an educational overhaul in the area.

Centre manager Gretha Reed said 37 staff would be forced to join the dole queue if the State Government refuses to renew its licence.

“We’ve been left waiting for five months to find out if we have a future — and the uncertainty is terrible for all the families and staff,” Ms Reed said.

Dire fears: The early learning centre’s Gretha Reed with Labor’s Education spokesman Jihad Did and ALP state candidate for Ryde Jerome Laxale

“This centre has been operating for 32 years and we bought it 11 years ago. It is my life and if it closed it’d be like losing a limb.”

The family-run centre — catering to children aged from six weeks to 12 years — is under threat of being bulldozed to make way for open space.

It is on the same site as Meadowbank Public School, which will be relocated with Marsden High School to a redeveloped Meadowbank TAFE site.

The existing school sites will be turned into a sporting facility and public open space when the education precinct opens in 2021.

Part of the playground at Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre.

Ms Reed urged the government to come clean on its plans for her centre before the state election on March 23.

“We all desperately need to know what’s going on,” she said.

“We have been waiting for too long to hear back from (Ryde Liberal MP) Victor Dominello’s office.”

In a brief statement, Mr Dominello said the government was “working with the operator regarding an extension of the existing lease”.

“The Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre will remain fully operational while negotiations continue,” he said.

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Labor Education spokesman Jihad Dib slammed the government for creating a “sense of fear” and “uncertainty for families”.

“This is symptomatic of the government’s lack of foresight; that’s the worrying thing,” he said. “The idea of packing everyone up and sending them to another school down the road … it takes away from the sense of community and belonging.

“If we’re elected next month, we’ll be scrapping the government’s priority precincts and making sure places like this (Meadowbank early learning) centre remains open.”

Mr Dib said the government’s own population projections show the number of children aged five to 19 in Ryde would grow by 51 per cent over 20 years to at least 27,800.

“There needs to be better planning for all levels of education, including early learning, to cater for all these extra kids,” the former Punchbowl Boys’ High School principal said.

Ms Reed made a heartfelt plea to the government to keep her centre’s doors open.

“The demand is already huge here for placements. I have just had to turn down 40 families for after-school care,” she said.

“These parents who work full-time have got nowhere to send their kids after school.

“Why close us? Yes, the site needs an upgrade and open land. But we should be able to have both.”