The existing loved and high performing daycares including Mill Hill Early Education Centre, Waverley Early Education Centre and the Grace Childcare centres, will be demolished and consolidated into high rise if replaced at all.

These local early education centres keep receiving the highest ‘exceeding’ rating in the service and the low staff turnover has helped build meaningful and long-lasting relationships between kids and educators. They are well located with access to green space. Over 200 kids from Bondi Junction and the whole Waverley and surrounding area enrol here and that is now at risk.

There are already not enough childcare places available and demand will only grow. With around one-third of households in Bondi Junction with kids and 3,000 more dwellings expected (according to the Masterplan), 1,000 new households and many more families will be looking for childcare spots.

The Council is seeking to demolish these childcares as short-term priorities. The Masterplan only has commitments to explore replacing these centres with a smaller 2-3 story community pavilion as part of a bigger Clementson Park.

There is no location proposed for any new childcares. The Masterplan only references consolidating childcare into more high rise precincts, alongside many other uses possibly including more private housing. This set up stands in stark contrast to the current centres settings as purpose-built for kids, low rise with access to nearby green space. In fact, these were also only recently redeveloped by the Council as modern centres for $3.2 million in 2015.

The Council has also only allocated $10 to 15 million to acquire and develop all this adjoining land near Clementson Park from the existing owners. As this is way below market rates, there is a big risk there will be nothing left for the kids.

Master Plan p.85, 87, 100