Albion Kindergarten has become a haunt for illegal activities and parents are demanding that the council install safety measures to protect their children. 81005 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By NATALIE GALLENTI
HUMAN faeces and used condoms have been found in a council-run kindergarten cubby house, but parents are furious after finding out Council will remove the cubby house instead of improving fencing around the facility.
Albion pre-schoolers have been left devastated after Brimbank Council and BPA Childrens Services decided to remove the cubby house located at their kindergarten.
The move comes in the wake of complaints from angry parents demanding action from after finding the kindergarten had become a haunt for youths performing illegal activities.
Some children have even been pulled out of the kindergarten for fear their health and safety may be at risk.
The furious group of parents is calling on the council to install higher and more secure fencing on the grounds, instead of punishing children by taking away the cubby house.
An Albion resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she pulled her daughter out of the kindergarten because she feared for her safety.
The shocked mother said she had complained to BPA Childrens Services, a service run by Brimbank Council, but had never received a response.
The resident said her daughter is now at a nearby kindergarten with higher fencing.
“It’s little kids we’re talking about. They couldn’t go outside and play,” she said.
“It’s all very well and good having locked gates, but what good are they if anyone can jump them?”
The kindergarten is located across the road from a laneway known to local residents as a hotspot for drug users.
“What’s to say these people will not jump the fence a shoot up and leave needles strewn there. They need to do something as a deterrent. They can’t just sit on their hands.”
Another parent whose child remains at the kindergarten said the only response from the BPA was a letter handed out last week telling parents the cubby house would be removed.
The letter also states that a sensory light installed by Brimbank Council has “proved not to be a deterrent as the youths continued to access the kindergarten and cubby over the school holiday period”.
Brimbank Council general manager of community wellbeing Kelly Grigsby said the council is aware of some unauthorised access occurring at night and is working with the provider to improve security.
The Albion resident, who also wished to remain anonymous, said even the sandpit had to be removed and cleaned earlier this year, after it was being used as a litter box.
She called for cameras and better fencing to be installed.
“It seems the council is quite willing to risk children’s health,” she said.
“If they are that concerned they would have done something by now. I’m ropeable. I think about it all the time, if it was syringes thrown over the fence he (her son) would be out of there.”
