C&K Childcare is a not for profit organisation located at Garden City. The centre was built using funds from the government and has relied heavily on grants and fundraisers for improved equipment and resources for the children. Most recently a new library was established where the children could not only learn about the responsibility that comes from borrowing, but ensure that each and every child had access to new books. Westfield inherited the building at the end of a 20 year lease and has decided that the rent shall now be $55,000 per annum. After explaining that it would be impossible to pay this amount of rent, Westfield gave us the option of paying $10,000 for the first year or leave in August. 77 children currently attend this centre and there are 250 families on the waiting list. Numerous staff will also be displaced by this decision with other C&K centres having to take on extra staff and children if the centre closes. Westfield claims that managing our environmental impact and engaging with the community are integrated into Westfield's core business and yet they are clearly putting profit over families and education. C&K CEO recently said this in an interview. "We are a community-based centre, so anything we make goes back into the centre. We don't make profits. We have averaged a $2000 surplus over the past five years at Garden City. I offered to give them the $2000 but they said no, it was a commercial decision. "What is particularly galling is they didn't put a cent into building the centre and now they want to come in and make money off it." The following came from a transcript of Westfield’s AGM: "In 2007, Westfield’s assets were revalued upwards by $5.1 billion and our new accounting profit for that year was $5.5 billion. But we chose not to promote that number" Westfield Garden city alone had a profit of $578.2 million (2008) What we want is for Westfield to understand that the income that is generated for the shopping centre by parents whose children attend the kindly, from grabbing a bottle of milk on the way home or a full shopping trip can be hundreds of dollars a week, not to mention the lunches that are purchased by the C&K staff. Please understand we are not a high income generating company so stop treating us like one. We just want our children to continue to share and learn in a community based environment, not onedriven by profit margins.

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