A CAMPAIGN for a child care centre at Timboon is gathering momentum with three mothers giving impassioned pleas at Corangamite Shire Council's recent meeting about the need for a centre.
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Corangamite Shire Council's chief executive officer Paul Younis at Timboon told the meeting the cost of a child care centre at Timboon was part of the council's discussions for its 2010-2011 budget.
Mr Younis said the centre would require a capital cost of $500,000 as well as ongoing costs.
The community would an opportunity to comment on the council's priorities when it was given an opportunity to make submissions about the council's draft budget, he said.
Among the mothers to speak at the council's open forum was Monica Ryan of Timboon who said child care was the "single biggest thing that her weekly schedule is organised around."
Mrs Ryan said she worked part-time but the only professional child care service she could access was a shire-operated mobile child care service for five hours a week.
She said her parents-in-law and her husband also provided child care but it was a one hour 40 minute return trip to her parents- in-law.
The shortage of child care had forced her to decline the opportunity to work more, she said.
Mrs Ryan said called upon the council to honour its commitment in its Early Years plan to expand the availability of child care in the shire.
Another mother, Peta Mustard, said the shortage of child care had forced her to resign from her job.
Tanya White from the Timboon Playgroup said a child care centre in Timboon would give children a more opportunities for social outlets and families more options.
She said the number of Family Day Care places in the Timboon area was minimal.
