Dear valued supporters, 

We'd like to thank you all for supporting our campaign to secure Gwelup Playgroup's future.  Last night, Ward Councillor Karlo Perkov posted a statement from Mayor Mark Irwin on a local community Facebook group and as a comment on one of our public Facebook posts. Here is Gwelup Playgroup's official response:

Dear Mayor Mark Irwin, Councillor Karlo Perkov, Councillor Chris Hatton,

We are extremely disappointed to read your statement. We are a group of local families with young children who are simply asking for an accommodation arrangement in line with other playgroups across the state. 

We have the following comments to make in response:

The fact remains that the cost for us to use our playgroup building is more than any other playgroup in Western Australia. And that IS factoring in all the additional costs you mentioned. We are not asking for free rent. However, many playgroups across WA are granted a peppercorn lease from their council. An example of this arrangement within the City of Stirling is Yokine Playgroup. There are playgroups in the metro area on peppercorn leases as low as $1 per year. Though it is worth noting that City of Wanneroo playgroups pay $0. Yes, ZERO. So free rent does exist!

The fact we’re merely a ‘casual user’ is the exact problem we’re highlighting. We lack long term security and face increases in rent and changes to our usage times every time our ‘casual user’ contract expires. When the last ‘casual user’ contract was negotiated in 2021, we had our exclusive space reduced, usage time reduced while our ‘casual user fee’ was increased. That is unfair, especially when we’re using a public building that we have called home since its renovation in 1996.  For nearly 2 years we have been asking how these issues can be rectified in the new building lease. We’re yet to receive ANY answers.

You say you’re open to discussions, but after 7 years and attempts by our committee in 2018 and 2021 to secure a more reasonable arrangement, it’s unacceptable that this is still an ongoing issue. Our frustration has been compounded by a near 2-year delay in the City of Stirling sorting a new lease for the building, leaving us on a month-to-month arrangement and unable to secure better terms.

If Rotary are ‘confident in their tenure’, but don’t have a new lease that has passed through council, how does that work? What kind of agreement is in place that has not been communicated to our playgroup?

Our playgroup cannot operate without the use of Colin Moore. But Rotary Osborne Park can continue their usual activities without using the building. Why can’t a thriving playgroup like ours be factored into the direct lease? Yokine Playgroup has a direct lease with the City of Stirling at a peppercorn fee. If the City of Stirling can acknowledge the value of a playgroup in Yokine, why can’t that value be acknowledged in Gwelup? Why can’t the council apply consistency within their local government area.

Regarding upgrades. The grass at the centre can only be described as a pile of dirt and weeds. Photos from 6 years ago show it to be in good condition, proving it has not been adequately maintained.  There are pavers falling away and others that are sunken creating a dangerous trip hazard for our children. We have endless complaints about the cleanliness of the building. There’s a strange musty smell. The playground sand is full of debris, some of it hazardous. The playground you mentioned was installed after considerable work by the Playgroup, and the shed was procured by the City of Stirling when we were forced to vacate space inside the building. After the shed was installed, we had to fight for 18 months for the flooding issues to be rectified.

We understand that councillors are not permitted to get involved in leases, but they can ask questions of the executive on our behalf. We have asked many questions over the past 2 years which remain unanswered.

We’re just a group of parents, mostly mums, trying to be heard for the sake of our kids. We want:

A fairer deal – not free – fair
Security of tenure – which we clearly don’t have as a ‘casual user’.

We made a deliberate decision not to name Rotary Osborne Park in our campaign, because we appreciate the charitable work that they do. We would like to continue to have a positive relationship. The building is vested in the City of Stirling, the City of Stirling sets out the conditions from which Rotary can rent the building to us, and how the income from those hire fees should be spent. It is also the City’s job to understand the value of playgroups and help facilitate our existence with affordable use of a public building. Therefore, we hold the City of Stirling responsible for our situation and require the City of Stirling to fix it. We will be writing to the City of Stirling CEO about this matter. We have been at Colin Moore Community Centre for nearly 30 years and want to continue for many years to come.

Regards,

Gwelup Playgroup Volunteer Committee