30 June 2026
A fresh bid has been launched to overturn North Sydney Council’s decision to evict Kelly’s Place Children’s Centre from Hume Street by the end of the year, just two days after mayor Zoe Baker used a lengthy speech to shut down the centre’s campaign for more time.
Councillors Efi Carr, Jessica Keen and James Spenceley have lodged a rescission motion seeking to reverse Monday night’s decision and instead require council to find a “reasonable alternative location” for Kelly’s Place within the North Sydney local government area.
The motion, listed for Wednesday night’s council meeting, would also require council to work with Kelly’s Place to ensure a viable option and extend the centre’s lease until a secure location is found.
It comes after council voted on Monday to adopt a report confirming Kelly’s Place’s lease would not be extended beyond 31 December 2026 and that the childcare building would not be retained within the stage two expansion of Hume Street Park.
The decision cleared the way for council to proceed with the next stage of the park expansion, which is expected to deliver at least 2000 square metres of additional open space in the rapidly growing Crows Nest and St Leonards precinct.
But the rescission motion argues it would be “unreasonable and contrary to community expectations” to require Kelly’s Place to vacate its current premises before a suitable and confirmed alternative was in place.
“Council has repeatedly expressed the view that they will work with the Kelly’s Place to find alternate location,” the motion says.
“An extension of the existing lease provides the operational certainty necessary for Kelly’s Place to continue delivering services without interruption, protects enrolled families from abrupt displacement, and allows adequate time for fit-out, approvals, and transition planning at any new site.”
The motion says the lease extension should remain in place until a formal agreement on an alternative location has been executed, with clear milestones to ensure the process moves forward.
It also claims council and Kelly’s Place have identified a location in recent months that could potentially be used, subject to upgrades and reconfiguration of the building.
“As council has been successful in a significant Special Rate Variation, funding is not a major factor in the relocation of a high-quality childcare centre,” the motion says.
It further argues council had committed to seeking state government funding to support the relocation of the centre, but had not pursued it.
The move sets up another fierce debate over the future of Kelly’s Place, after Monday night’s meeting exposed a sharp split between councillors over whether council should prioritise the long-planned park expansion or continue trying to retain the childcare centre in Crows Nest.
Cr Baker told Monday’s meeting the decision was ultimately about “the needs of a few against those of the many and the broader public interest”.
She said Kelly’s Place had been “on notice for 14 years” and that its lease had contained demolition clauses for a decade.
“The requirements that Kelly’s Place has put forward are unreasonable,” Cr Baker said.
“450 square metres of both inside and outside space in Crows Nest is impossible and that’s why the council has been unable to find a new location and why Kelly’s Place itself has not been able to put something on the table.”
Cr Baker argued the Hume Street Park expansion was needed to address a serious shortage of open space in Crows Nest and St Leonards, where the population is expected to grow sharply over the next decade.
“What we know that there is a dearth of is public open space and it is a terrible thing that as a council that we have to be considering the balancing 40 childcare spaces against the needs of tens of thousands of people who currently live in Crows Nest and will be moving there,” she said.
She said leadership required council to stay the course despite pressure.
“Leadership is not measured by how easy the journey to the decision is, but by whether we stay the course and deliver on our commitments,” she said.
Opponents of the eviction argued on Monday that council had created a false choice between childcare and open space.
Greens councillor Angus Hoy said council should test whether Kelly’s Place could be incorporated into the park before forcing it out, warning the centre was being removed before a final design had been settled.
Cr Keen also said integrating the centre into the park should be explored, while Cr Spenceley argued the decision rested with councillors and should reflect both the need for open space and the centre’s long history in Crows Nest.
Cr Carr said council should not be “trading green space for a childcare centre”, describing Kelly’s Place as valued, well run and necessary infrastructure for the area.
Wednesday night’s rescission motion gives the centre’s supporters one more chance to reopen the issue before the council proceeds with the next stage of Hume Street Park.
If successful, it would reverse Monday’s decision and force council back into negotiations over a relocation plan, while keeping Kelly’s Place in place until a secure alternative is found.