Kia ora Margaret

Thanks for the your comments. I'm sure the initial decision to sell was not made lightly, and I'm equally sure the decision-makers at St Andrews would have agonized over the final sale. However, I think you will agree none of this changes the end result - a community space converted into a private space - privatization.

The worst affected in all this are the children attending the creche. Their opportunities for play and socializing are unlikely to be significantly improved by the statistics you offer, intended I assume to demonstrate the slightly above average financial status of their parents. Shutting down non-profit, parent-run, creches, playgroups, and playcentres is part of a wider agenda of creating a market for 'early childcare businesses', an agenda which the Ministry of Education is playing into, by imposing the same regulations on both types of groups, despite the obvious differences in their motivations and funding. The road to free market hell is paved with good intentions.

You are right in pointing out the council's pathetic role in this matter, and I intend this to be the subject of future articles as I follow the fortune of the parents attempting to save their creche. I will be arguing that a parent-run creche is a recreational activity group, not an early childhood education institution, and should be allowed the use the existing Bandoliers building on the edge of the Green Belt.

Considering the difference in property values between when St Andrews aquired the building through your merger with the Mt Vic church, and it's value now thanks to the real estate speculation of the last 10 years, it's a bit rich of you (pun intended) to begrudge the Mt Vic community the costs of your delaying the fall of the axe, especially since you admit the council effectively subsidized this. Perhaps St Andrew could donate a small amount of these ill-gotten gains to helping to rehouse the creche you have turned out on the street.

Thanks again for your feedback, and your interest in Indymedia.
Strypey