Grant Robertson
MP for Wellington Central
Finance Spokesperson

MEDIA STATEMENT

9 November 2016

Karori Kids and Campbell Kindergarten must be saved

The Minister of Education needs to show some leadership and secure the future of two not-for-profit early childhood education centres that could be faced with closure as the land they sit on is up for sale, Grant Robertson Labour MP for Wellington Central says.

“Karori Kids and Campbell Kindergarten have been providing early childhood education for nearly 30 years in Karori on the site of the old Teachers College. Now that Victoria University has assumed ownership of the land, they are looking to sell the land, and unless a deal is reached that will mean the end of the two centres.

“These two centres have been treated appallingly in this process. The Ministry did not even bother to tell them that they had sold the land to Victoria University in the first place. Since then the Centres have been bounced between the Ministry and the University.

“Today the families involved in the centres have discovered via a media release that the Ministry has told the University they do not want to buy the land they sit on.

“The families who run these centres pay the rates and the upkeep of the buildings. They have put in hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few years. They simply want the security to carry on as they do now providing essential services to the people of Karori.

“At the moment they are facing the prospect of the land being sold to a private buyer and they will have to close.

“It is time for the Minister to step up and show some leadership, work with the University and find a solution. Her Ministry and the University say they appreciate the position that the families find themselves in.

“That is great, but it is decisive action that will make the difference. I implore them to act in the long term interests of these children and this community and save these centres.”

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