Stanwell Park residents fear childcare provider Big Fat Smile will not be a good fit for the community. Photo: Ben McNamara/DPE.
Not-for-profit childcare provider Big Fat Smile will move in to Stanwell Park in January 2026, and residents are outraged.
At the end of a legally required tender process, Wollongong City councillors voted to grant the 10-year lease for Stanwell Park Children’s Centre to Big Fat Smile at a recent council meeting.
The decision, which will open up an additional 15 childcare spaces and expand the service to include infants aged zero to two, was met with shouts and interjections from the public gallery.
Stanwell Park residents yelled “We don’t want your big fat bullshit” and “We’re not going to listen” before security officers removed them from the meeting.
In July, residents petitioned the council to defer the tender process for the centre, which has been run by the current operators on a year-by-year basis since 2016.
Resident Andy Evans told the council residents feared the same characteristics that made their daycare so special would make it less likely to be a successful applicant through the tender process.
“They’re not professional tender writers; they’re not a big chain,” Mr Evans told the council.
“They’re a small bush kinder that reflects our community’s values.”
Mr Evans said the suburb had lost many essential services over the past decade, such as a post office, general store, petrol station and kiosk.
The Stanwell Park Kiosk went to tender several years ago and has since shut down, which Mr Evans said further soured the community on the process.
“That tender was awarded to a large catering company who made little to no effort with the community and catered mostly for tourists,” Mr Evans said.
“Under the previous owners, it had been the epicentre of the community.”
Crs Dan Hayes, Thomas Quinn, Jess Whittaker and Tiana Myers all declared a conflict of interest and left the chamber for the debate.
Cr David Brown said the council was legally required to choose the applicant that best fit the tender criteria, or decline all tenders.
“We can only consider the relevant factors and if we go against that, we leave the council and ourselves as individual councillors open to legal challenges,” he said.
“I’m pretty nervous about this. We cannot give preferential treatment to the current lessee, and all applicants have the right to procedural fairness.
“We should support the applicant recommended by the tender process.”
Cr Ryan Morris said he was torn.
He felt that following the tender process could leave the community feeling resentful.
“I fear if I vote in favour of this, what we are saying to the people of Stanwell Park is that we do what we want and they will get used to it, and I found that an unacceptable way to be spoken to,” he said.
“I would like to vote for a one-week review. I would like to ask some questions of the top three tenders as part of that review.
“I understand why Cr Brown is cautious, but I want to make sure families will get what they want.”
Cr Morris was told this would not be possible, as it would not give all applicants an opportunity to respond to the review.
Cr Ann Martin said she was upset that Cr Linda Campbell was accused of misconduct as part of the process.
Cr Campbell was involved in the establishment of Big Fat Smile, originally Illawarra Children’s Services Action Group, several decades ago.
Cr Martin said the suggestion of misconduct was “deeply offensive”.
“Councillors are not involved in consideration of the tenders,” she said.
“We are presented with a report and make a decision based on the advice of our staff as to which candidate fulfilled the requirements.
“This is a legal, legislative process, not something we cook up on a whim.”
Lord Mayor Tania Brown said the childcare sector was particularly fraught at present, and it was critical the council made the right decision.
“There is a lot of legislation and a lot of attention on the childcare environment at the moment,” she said.
“I know this has been very difficult and we want to make sure we get it right.”
Crs Richard Martin, David Brown, Ann Martin, Andrew Anthony and Kit Docker all voted in favour of accepting the recommended applicant, Big Fat Smile.
Cr Deirdre Stuart and Cr Morris voted against.
