The fight to save Kelly’s Place Children’s Centre has taken a significant turn, with NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully warning he could cancel the $9.3 million Hume Street Park expansion project over North Sydney Council’s handling of the centre’s impending departure.
In a strongly worded letter to Mayor Zoë Baker, dated 4 September, the Minister criticises Council’s reluctance to publicly explain its decision not to extend the community-run centre’s lease beyond 31 December 2026.
He also confirms that a park design incorporating childcare services will be considered, construction-associated works will not proceed until after March 2027, and State funding cannot be used to demolish the centre.
For families hoping to preserve the longstanding Crows Nest service, the letter leaves an important possibility open: an expanded park that still includes community childcare.
But with the lease due to expire at the end of this year, that possibility has yet to become a secure future for Kelly’s Place.
What the Minister’s letter says
Scully’s letter draws a distinction between Council’s decision about the lease and the NSW Government’s decisions about the park’s design and delivery.
While acknowledging that the State Government has no legislative or regulatory authority over Council’s decision not to extend the lease, he describes Council’s continued public silence in explaining, justifying or defending that decision as “untenable”.
He also makes clear that the $9.3 million allocated by the NSW Government will not pay for demolition.
“If the Council, as the existing landowner, decides to proceed with the demolition of the facility, it will be responsible for the costs,” he writes.
The Minister says the design process will include an option integrating public open space with childcare services.
His strongest warning concerns Council’s commitment to help Kelly’s Place with transition arrangements and work with neighbouring councils and childcare providers to support affected families.
“Unless I am satisfied that Council is meeting this commitment,” Scully writes, “I will also consider cancelling the Hume Street Park Stage 2 project and allocating the funding to another project.”
The warning raises the stakes for a dispute that now involves both the future of a community childcare service and a major investment in local open space.
Could the park and childcare centre coexist?
Kelly’s Place, which has served local families for almost four decades, says it supports expanding Hume Street Park. Its campaign is seeking a solution that preserves community childcare alongside additional green space.
In an open letter dated 20 August, the centre’s management committee argues that earlier planning for the park envisaged relocation, integration or replacement of Kelly’s Place, rather than its permanent loss.
The committee points to Council’s preferred 2015 vision, which included a replacement childcare facility within the expanded park. Council’s March 2025 report also describes that facility as part of the longer-term Stage 3 works, separate from the shorter-term expansion now being pursued.
It is asking for an integrated option to be designed, costed and assessed, with the lease extended long enough for that work to occur. If integration proves unfeasible, it wants a funded replacement pathway that maintains continuity of care.
An analysis supplied by Kelly’s Place also reports strong support for retention among submissions to Council’s recent park consultation.
Of the 492 submissions released under Government Information (Public Access) legislation, the report classified 402 (81.7 per cent) as asking for the centre to be retained. Nineteen supported proceeding without it, while 71 took no position on its future.
Among submissions supporting retention, the report says almost four in five sought to integrate the centre into the expanded park.
These figures describe the submissions received, rather than a representative survey of all residents.
A December Deadline for Kelly’s Place
Council’s published project information says the expansion would provide approximately 2,000 square metres of additional public open space in a precinct facing a significant shortage of parkland.
It maintains that retaining Kelly’s Place on its current site would substantially reduce the open space available and says years of investigations have not secured a suitable relocation site.
Council states that there is no identified funding source for designing and constructing a replacement childcare facility within the park. Kelly’s Place points to childcare allocations in Council’s infrastructure contributions plan, arguing these could help fund a solution. Whether those allocations can fund a replacement for Kelly’s Place remains disputed.
Kelly’s Place says several councillors are expected to bring forward a motion at the October Council meeting seeking a further 12-month lease extension. Whether that motion has been formally lodged is yet to be confirmed.
Council’s initial consultation closed on 12 July 2026. Its published timeline schedules a further consultation on concept designs for late 2026, close to Kelly’s Place’s lease expiry date.
For families and staff, that timing is crucial. Considering a design that includes childcare does not itself allow Kelly’s Place to keep operating beyond December.
The immediate question is whether the centre will be given enough time for that option to be properly assessed before its current lease runs out.
More information is available through Kelly’s Place and Council’s Hume Street Park project page.
READ MORE: North Sydney’s ‘Other’ Secret Garden
