Child care centre given reprieve

Wyndham Childcare Centre has been given a reprieve until a new funding model can be found.

The decision was made at a special meeting of the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley tonight (September 2) to discuss and decide on the authority's budget for 2014-15.

The Shire will now continue to fund the centre until at least the end of the year while alternative funding models are investigated.

If it takes longer, the Shire has indicated it will fund it until June 30 when the model would need to be put in place.

The decision came after residents formed the Save Wyndham Childcare Centre group and not only created a petition, but also protested the potential closure.

The Shire's draft Budget revealed the centre cost $4493 a year for each child attending, or $141 per visit.

In 2013-14, 37 children used the facility for a total of 1183 visits at a total cost of about $166,244, excluding depreciation and administration overheads.

Save Wyndham Childcare Centre spokeswoman Kim Giddens spoke to The Echo ahead of the meeting and said access to child care was a core service and the closure would have a significant social and economic impact on the community.

Ms Giddens said the closure would make it more difficult to attract young professional workers to the remote town and that Wyndham ratepayers deserved a service like their Kununurra counterparts.

"The families we would lose as a result of this closure contribute substantially to the community far beyond their employment," she said.

"They volunteer in the local fire and ambulance services, they coach sport, they foster local children and they spend money in local businesses.

"The message to council is clear - the Wyndham community does not exist as an expenditure item that can be cut in order to balance the Shire's books. Find your budget savings elsewhere."

As well as the decision over the child care centre, councillors consider a raft of cuts and spending decisions at the meeting tonight which went on for more than two hours.

This time last week, the Shire warned ratepayers its proposed Budget would be "very tight", releasing a media statement which outlined plans to close the child care centre, cut 21.9 full-time-equivalent jobs alongside other cost savings, warning they would still need to run the Budget at a deficit.

More than 50 residents from Kununurra and Wyndham turned out to the meeting with more than 30 people standing up during the public question time to interrogate Shire staff and councillors.

Veteran Councillor Keith Wright said he was "disappointed" to see the "first Shire budget deficit" he had sat on in his 30 years in council.

Another place where councillors decided to tighten their belts was in sponsorship with an agreement to cut funding for the Ord Valley Muster from a proposed $30,000 to $20,000.

Kununurra Ratepayers Association president Leigh Pedler said overall he though the budget was hard but fair.

"We feel it is quite a good Budget with some good hard decisions being made and I know that is going to upset some people who might lose their jobs," he said.

However, Mr Pedler said more savings would need to be found and there were areas the Ratepayers Association though money could be better spent.

"Maybe we are trying to make Kununurra too big too quickly," he said.

"As much as we don't want to stifle development at all maybe we are trying to take some really big steps when maybe we should be taking some smaller steps.

"There is talk about moving the swimming pool and the town centre which is great, if it's justified, but let's just tick along a little bit.

"We had a big influx of money from the State and Federal Government where we built great stuff that is good for the town but we think the projected population of the town is grossly overestimated.

"We just need to get our feet back on the ground and return to a strong financial position."

The Department of Local Government said it was made aware of the Shire's Budget situation last week.

"The Shire's proposed deficit of 3.8 per cent is within statutory limits," a spokesman said.

"Local governments are best placed to make decisions about the levels and types of services that they provide and are accountable to their communities for such decisions."

For more on the meeting and the Budget, pick up your copy of The Kimberley Echo on Thursday.