Shire president Paula Cristoffanini says ‘misunderstanding’ around costs involved in childcare bid

Shire president Paula Cristoffanini has explained there were misconceptions around the likely cost to upgrade Augusta’s Recreation Centre at the centre of a stoush around childcare in the seaside town that justified a council decision not to continue with the project. Responding to questions from the Times, Cr Cristoffanini said the local government also had to consider a range of legal and best-practice considerations above and beyond a basic upgrade to make the old centre ready for the Augusta & Districts Community Childcare group’s “ambitious” project. She noted ADCC had also set its sights on an upgrade to the recreation centre as their only preferred option instead of a less expensive upgrade to the old police station on Hillview Road. “Unfortunately, the only premises acceptable to the group is the Augusta Recreation Centre,” she told the Times. “The group’s ambitious vision is for a much broader service that includes three forms of childcare: long day, holiday, and before and after school care as well as a range of other community activities and to have allied health professionals operating from the same premises. “Unfortunately, the Augusta Recreation Centre has a number of legacy issues that would need to be addressed in any refurbishment,” Cr Cristoffanini said. “This, together with escalating building costs at present have made the prospect of refurbishing this centre, even in a partial way to provide only premises for long day care for 0-4 year olds, just too expensive.” The Shire president also said the Shire’s decision to borrow $8 million to upgrade the Margaret River Recreation Centre and pool was a separate issue. While Augusta childcare advocates bemoaned the council decision as a bias towards facilities in Margaret River, Cr Cristoffanini said the $8 million project was about a critical requirement due to structural issues with the centre’s roof. “The refurbishment of the Margaret River Recreation Centre is a costly, but essential project that could not be postponed,” she said. The Augusta project involved many complexities and the Shire president rejected views the costs were inflated so the Shire didn’t have to take on another expensive project. “The ADCC has claimed that the costings provided to council are inflated as they include the costs of refurbishment of the hall to a childcare centre standard and those of correcting legacy issues as well as project management, contingency and design fees,” Cr Cristoffanini said. “Unfortunately, those costs have to be factored in as part of the refurbishment and represent the total cost estimate for the project, which includes dealing with the legacy issues associated with the building.” ADCC spokeswoman Jasmine Meagher said the Shire had continued “to change the goal posts” throughout the past two years “and put in place additional hurdles every time we pass the gate”. “We are disappointed at how long this process has taken,” she said. “We are an approved provider to run a childcare service. The single hold-up is a fit-for-purpose venue.” The ADCC would continue investigating its options including other funding streams.