We spend a bit of time in the mountains and beyond. It’s so nice to get away from Sydney, where the air is cleaner and life just feels a bit more relaxed. I love shopping in the different towns along the highway, but since having my little one it’s become a bit of a challenge to find good parent room or baby change facilities along the way.
Quite often we end up at Lithgow, which has a few fabulous stores in Main Street. I’d heard from a couple of friends and business people in the area, that there’s no parent room or baby change facility anywhere in the vicinity of Main Street. This sounded so silly, I had to check it out. Unfortunately, I discovered they were right.
On the corner of Main & Eskbank Street, just outside the ANZ Bank, there’s a street sign saying ‘Parent Room’ and pointing down Eskbank Street. ‘So there is one!’ I thought, wondering why people had said there wasn’t. With camera ready to take some pictures and let the world know I had discovered the missing room, a small white sign on the locked door grabbed my attention. It said the keys to the room were at the train station. This means if you’re in Main Street, Lithgow, and need to change your baby or feed them in private, you need to walk to the train station and ask for the keys to the parent room. Once you have the keys, you then have to walk all the way back up Main Street then Eskbank to get to the parent room. Could you imagine doing this? Could anyone imagine doing this? What a joke!!
People I had spoken to were right!! And they’re totally justified in being thoroughly upset about this.
For a place that’s working hard to attract and keep visitors and new residents, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect to find an open parent room during the day? One that you don’t have to get keys for every time you need to use it? How silly!
It’s no wonder some of the businesses in the Main Street suffer from a lack of trade. Especially when Lithgow Plaza and the newer Woolworths both have baby change facilities. The Plaza actually has a parent room! What’s the incentive to go out with your young children to Main Street if there aren’t any facilities to look after and care for them?
One month this year, 18 babies had been born in Lithgow. Surely the parents of these children would like a parent room in the main street of town. Instead they’re probably forced to change and feed their children in the back seat of cars, in prams, or even in stores. This isn’t fair to anyone. Not to babies, parents or business owners. While shopping in one of my favourite stores, a dad came in with his young daughter and asked if there was a bathroom she could use. The lovely store owner said they had one at the back and showed them where it was. The store owner did not have to do that, but they did. However, it’s not the responsibility of local business owners to provide toilet and baby care facilities for the public. Surely that responsibility should fall into the hands of the local council.
So this leads me to wonder what it will take for the local council to open the parent room on Eskbank Street? Especially during chilly winter months, parents of babies and young children should not be expected to walk down to the train station to collect keys, then back to Eskbank street, then back to the station again to return the keys. It’s ridiculous and completely unreasonable. The facilities at the Plaza and Woolworths aren’t fabulous, but at least there’s something onsite that’s open for parents to use.
Quite often we end up at Lithgow, which has a few fabulous stores in Main Street. I’d heard from a couple of friends and business people in the area, that there’s no parent room or baby change facility anywhere in the vicinity of Main Street. This sounded so silly, I had to check it out. Unfortunately, I discovered they were right.
On the corner of Main & Eskbank Street, just outside the ANZ Bank, there’s a street sign saying ‘Parent Room’ and pointing down Eskbank Street. ‘So there is one!’ I thought, wondering why people had said there wasn’t. With camera ready to take some pictures and let the world know I had discovered the missing room, a small white sign on the locked door grabbed my attention. It said the keys to the room were at the train station. This means if you’re in Main Street, Lithgow, and need to change your baby or feed them in private, you need to walk to the train station and ask for the keys to the parent room. Once you have the keys, you then have to walk all the way back up Main Street then Eskbank to get to the parent room. Could you imagine doing this? Could anyone imagine doing this? What a joke!!
People I had spoken to were right!! And they’re totally justified in being thoroughly upset about this.
For a place that’s working hard to attract and keep visitors and new residents, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect to find an open parent room during the day? One that you don’t have to get keys for every time you need to use it? How silly!
It’s no wonder some of the businesses in the Main Street suffer from a lack of trade. Especially when Lithgow Plaza and the newer Woolworths both have baby change facilities. The Plaza actually has a parent room! What’s the incentive to go out with your young children to Main Street if there aren’t any facilities to look after and care for them?
One month this year, 18 babies had been born in Lithgow. Surely the parents of these children would like a parent room in the main street of town. Instead they’re probably forced to change and feed their children in the back seat of cars, in prams, or even in stores. This isn’t fair to anyone. Not to babies, parents or business owners. While shopping in one of my favourite stores, a dad came in with his young daughter and asked if there was a bathroom she could use. The lovely store owner said they had one at the back and showed them where it was. The store owner did not have to do that, but they did. However, it’s not the responsibility of local business owners to provide toilet and baby care facilities for the public. Surely that responsibility should fall into the hands of the local council.
So this leads me to wonder what it will take for the local council to open the parent room on Eskbank Street? Especially during chilly winter months, parents of babies and young children should not be expected to walk down to the train station to collect keys, then back to Eskbank street, then back to the station again to return the keys. It’s ridiculous and completely unreasonable. The facilities at the Plaza and Woolworths aren’t fabulous, but at least there’s something onsite that’s open for parents to use.