Despite hesitation from some Smithers councillors, the town has decided to push forward with plans for a childcare facility in Ranger Park.
Council authorized designating a portion of the Ranger Park lands to accommodate a new childcare facility, to be built with funding available through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund program (pending a successful grant application). It also directed staff to complete an Expression of Interest process for selecting an operator for the proposed Ranger Park Child Care Facility at the Feb. 27 regular council meeting.
The town is trying to proactively address local childcare challenges, beginning with the development of a Child Care Plan in 2021. The municipality is also working internally and with community partners to put the plan into action.
There is a current childcare shortage of just over 200 spaces in Smithers.
The town knows that the impact of the existing coverage gap is increasingly manifested across various sectors, impacting the staffing levels of local businesses and service providers, as well as the availability of critical services.
There was public engagement last month about the proposal to build a childcare facility at Ranger Park. The community survey was open from Feb. 9-16, and a total of 191 survey responses were received.
A drop-in engagement session for the entire community was held on Feb. 15 and was attended by 24 residents. Notification letters on the engagement opportunities were sent to all the 30 property owners within 60-metre buffer around the Ranger Park parcel. Staff also discussed the ideas with the existing user groups occupying the property.
According to a report from town staff, the key highlights of the feedback received are that most participants support a childcare centre being located at Ranger Park with 81 per cent of the survey respondents supporting it.
However, loss of park space and the impact on existing park users were the top reasons for not supporting a childcare centre at that location.
While some councillors were on the fence about voting in favour of it, Councillor Frank Wray was the only one who ended up voting against it.
He cited the location as a major factor for not being on board, not wanting to take away a park as well as a perceived lack of public consultation.
“If we were building anything else there, if we were building a 70-room hotel, we would demand a traffic study and neighborhood impact study. But we’re not going to do that. We’re just going to put it there,” he said.
Councillor Sam Raven was staunchly in favour of the idea.
“The need for childcare is great,” she said. “And this is one of the times where as a municipality, we can actually take a leading role and create space, and the opportunity to have more childcare and centres. We see that impacting every single person in our community. When parents cannot go back to work that impacts us, that impacts our economy that impacts our health care. That impacts our quality of life as a whole.”
Town staff will now issue an Expression of Interest, inviting proposals from experienced non-profit, childcare providers interested in operating the proposed facility. Completing the operator selection process and starting the design process within the next 6-8 weeks will allow the town to apply for the grant money to build it by late summer or early fall.
READ MORE: Ranger Park could be home to a new Smithers child care facility