When plans to shut Milton’s popular Gumnuts preschool were made public by The Anglican Schools Corporation, which owns the parcel of land on which the centre operates, the community rallied.
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And this wasn’t simply a group of parents unwilling to make alternative plans for their children come 2018, this was a group of residents aware of the devastating shortage in services offering early education, across the region.
An action group was formed and negotiations began. The Anglican Schools Corporation was quick to promise its support to community members keen to see the land on which the school operates re-subdivided from the larger parcel it currently shares with the former Anglican High School, and which The Anglican Schools Corporation plans to sell.
A development application was eventually lodged with Shoalhaven City Council, which also threw its support behind the action group, with further promises to fast-track the DA once lodged.
However, after months of negotiations and hold-ups, representatives of the Save Gumnuts Action Group were forced to concede defeat on Friday, December 15, as the centre prepared to close its doors, for the last time.
In a letter to South Coast MP Shelley Hancock, dated Tuesday, December 5, NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said: “The Anglican Schools Corporation has not yet notified the department that the service will be closing … Under the National Law and Regulations, the approved provider is only required to notify the department within seven days of the service ceasing to operate.
“There are two options for service approval in the case of a service closing. The Anglican Schools Corporation can agree to transfer the service to another approved provider. In this case documentation would need to be provided and the department notified within 42 days of the transfer taking place. However, the Anglican Schools Corporation can decline to transfer the service approval,” he said.
“Once a service has closed the only option to reopen for an approved provider to submit an application for service approval and to provide the required documentation to the regulatory authority. This includes evidence of the right to occupy the premises.”
Mr Stokes further outlined that, if the service should close, the department would be able to assist parents to find alternative care for the children from GumNut Pre-Kinder.
Fairfax Media understands that many families have been forced to compromise on the early childhood education of their children as a direct result of this closure.
Milton mother Michelle Cooney is one of those parents. After a long association with GumNut Pre-Kinder Ms Cooney has been forced to choose between giving up her work as a special needs teacher, or sending her two young children to separate centres, while also relying on the support of Grandparents to fill the gaps.
It is understood that the centre’s now redundant staff are devastated by the school’s closure. However, when approached for comment they declined.
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