DEMAND for childcare in Tea Gardens/Hawks Nest is at a high.
Working parents are driving the demand for before and after school and vacation care.
Councillor Carol McCaskie raised the issue at the last Great Lakes Council ordinary meeting.
Speaking after the meeting, Cr McCaskie said she was surprised by the number of people who needed these services in the area.
"Tea Gardens Public School conducted a survey to ascertain interest in before and after school and vacation care, and 40 returns to date indicate that there is a need in the area for this service."
Cr McCaskie believes council should help the Tea Gardens area, as it did with the after school care and vacation care service in Tuncurry.
"I think there is a lot we can do to assist them."
Principal of Tea Gardens Public School, Sue Estens believes the high demand warrants the creation of these services.
"Currently there is no vacation care, after school care or before school care at Tea Gardens.
"Children are cared for through private means, which includes family, friends, a nanny or a carer.
"Tea Gardens Child Care Centre has a position available for one child up to six years of age only," she said.
To gauge demand for these services council requested statistics.
With the assistance of concerned parent of two school-aged children, Carla Sunner, Sue Estens compiled a survey.
The survey was circulated over three weeks via the Tea Gardens Primary School newsletter and the NOTA.
Flyers were also placed at the local shopping centre in Bi-Lo, doctors' surgeries, bakeries, pharmacies, credit union, the preschool, and distributed personally.
"The aim was to circulate the survey to all the families with primary school children in the community, not just children enrolled at Tea Gardens Primary," Ms Estens said.
Forty families responded to the survey, predominately from Tea Gardens, but responses also came from Hawks Nest, Pindimar, Bundabah, Viney Creek and North Arm Cove.
The results of the survey were sent to Great Lakes Council community development officer, Chloe Beevers.
She said the next step was to gather additional information and then present the findings to council for their consideration.
"After we have done some more research we would probably look at holding a public forum in the community to look at the feasibility of having these types of services in Tea Gardens and to confirm the survey findings," Ms Beevers said.
"We would also need to do our sums and look at how the services would be able to cover their own costs."
The standard ratio of children to carers in after school care, before school care and vacation care is one staff member to 15 children, but you have to have a minimum of two staff members.
Great Lakes Council run a self-funded after school care and vacation care centre in Tuncurry.
There is also an after school service available in Nabiac, run by a non-government organisation.
The nearest vacation care centre to Tea Gardens is at Raymond Terrace.
Ms Estens told the NOTA that if council decided it wasn't interested in making these services available to the local community, Tea Gardens Public School would explore options to run it themselves.
"There is a real need here for these services, and it came as no surprise that the survey's confirmed this, as our enrolments are growing and growing all the time."
Ms Sunner said some parents even send their children away on the bus to different schools located up to an hour away, as this gives them an extra hour in the morning and in the afternoon where they don't have to worry about a carer.
"Isn't the most important thing to get our kids off the potentially dangerous highway?"
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