Marketplace – ParentRooms

Reviewed by B

Overall: Super basic. Nappy change only. For anything else, have a cover-up on hand and head to Gloria Jeans at the entrance, or pop across the creek to the park so the bigger children can run around at the playground.

Good Points: There’s a change table. Spacious shopping centre. Loads of parking.

Bad Points: There’s a change table. That’s it. For a new shopping centre in a new community with loads of families moving in to the area, I was expecting a better facility for parents and babies. Seems like the majority of the budget went into the fitout of the female bathroom.

Our plans changed today. The little guy my little angel was going to have a playdate with was unwell, poor little pixie. But we have rescheduled for next week, and I am going to make chocolate slice. Yummy!!!

Anyway, with our day now completely open I thought we should go check out a different suburb. So we eventually got in the car and made the short trip to Pemulwuy.

When I first heard the name of this suburb I wondered where on earth it was! Then discovered it’s basically an add-on to Greystanes, like the Paris end of Greystanes. That’s my impression of it. Feel free to let me know if this is not correct. Anyway, the suburb is quite new and with that comes new parks and a shopping centre – Pemulwuy Marketplace.

We’ve been here a couple of times in the past year or two. Not overly spectacular for a new suburb, but I think it’s good to keep it small in a new community. If someone wants a bigger shopping experience, Westfield is just a few minutes drive away in Parramatta. I was, however, quite disappointed with what Centre Management has called the ‘Parents Room’.

Once before when we’d been out here for a coffee meeting, my poor little angel needed a nappy change quite urgently. The sign hanging from the ceiling (2nd photo from the top) indicated there were baby change facilities. So with bubby in my arms, we headed down the hallway to find the disabled toilet, the female toilet and the mens. Do you think we could find a Parent Room or baby change area anywhere? Not at all!! At the time, not even the disabled toilet had a change table in it. It was like they had the money to put the baby sticker on the sign hanging from the ceiling, but ran out of budget when it was time to think of parents and babies. So on that occasion, I had to take my girl out to the car and change her in the boot of the station wagon. Totally not cool. Centre Management was very fortunate that day to have the door locked to their office.

However, today I was very surprised to find there is now a ‘Parents Room’ in the centre!!! Hooray!! You’ll find what is actually just a wall mounted fold out baby change table, in the disabled toilet. Looks like the sign has only recently been added to the front of the door, and I’d be surprised if the wall unit has been there any longer. But at least I don’t have to change my little girl in the boot of the car anymore.

So what can I say? It’s a disabled toilet with a wall mounted, fold out baby change table. One nappy bin. Adult size loo, sink, with hand dryer and soap dispenser. Large pressure door, which is so not handy for anyone with a pram or wheelchair. But at least it’s a wide doorway when you do get it open.

It definitely hasn’t been given the money that has been put into the female bathroom. Obviously I haven’t been into the mens. But for a new shopping centre, I would have expected an actual Parent Room, rather than just a change table in the disabled toilet. Especially given the number of young families who live in the area. Maybe on our next visit we’ll find a dedicated Parent Room. Fingers crossed!

The best part of our trip to Pemulwuy was the park across the creek from the Marketplace. It is wonderful!! Head further up Butu Wargun Dr, towards the new homes and to your left you’ll see a fantastic playground. There’s a basketball court, a funky ropes play area, and then a wonderful covered toddler playground. Just perfect. And next to all this is a clean, well maintained BBQ area. It’s probably busy on the weekends, but on weekdays….so low key. Just lovely. We had a fabulous time at the park. I met a few lovely mums and grandparents who were there with their little ones. It’s such a nice spot to let your children just run themselves dry of energy, while you either join in or sit on one of the many clean benches and relax.

Finding places to take little ones in Sydney where they can play and be entertained, and which are free, is not always easy. And some suburbs aren’t as friendly as others. But this is a great place for you and your kids to hang out for a few hours. Just remember, the Marketplace only has a change table. Anything else you need to do, will be in public.

Reviewed by B

Overall: Good. Has the basics and it’s very clean. Nappy changes and feeding.

Good Points: Very clean; Two lockable feeding cubicles; Nappy bins next to change bays; Powerpoints for expressing.

Bad Points: No papertowel; Uncomfortable office chair in feeding cubicle; No kid-sized toilet; Inadequate signage in centre for Parent Room; No microwave.

Start of a new week and I thought maybe we could head to a different suburb today. Do the groceries and check out the Parent Room at a different shopping centre altogether. So instead of heading to yet another area of the Hills, we got in the car and ended up at West Ryde Marketplace.

It’s a nice little shopping centre. Stores are all on the one floor. There’s both undercover and outdoor parking. Travelators and ramps, no stairs, coffee shops, Woolies, newsagent, nail salon etc…..not too big which is lovely. We parked undercover because it looked like it might rain (and it is pouring outside right now!), plus I just like undercover parking better. Feels more secure to me. Looking for Parents With Prams parking spaces, there were none to be found. Bit of a bummer considering the number of mums and bubs out and about there today. Perhaps Centre Management will do something about that soon?

There were loads of parks available though and we did find my favourite kind – rear to the wall, passenger side against a concrete pole, close to the travelator.

The thing I like most about this place is it’s pram friendly. No escalators or stairs, just a travelator, wide walkways and ramps. One thing that wasn’t simple was finding the Room! The sign hanging from the ceiling indicates where the general male/female/disabled toilets are,and usually I’d also expect to see the baby in a nappy symbol too to indicate there’s baby change facilities. But the sign here doesn’t have anything to indicate there’s a Parent Room around. Maybe that’s why, when you do find it, it’s so clean because no-one uses it as they don’t know there is one available (until now!).

So after checking out the T ends of the marketplace, I thought if there is one then it should be where the toilets are. Or at least there’d be a change table in the disabled or female toilet. So following the direction of the sign, bubs and I headed up the ramp and right at the end of it is the Parent Room. Yay!!!!

Lesson learnt – check out the signs leading to toilets first.

The room, while small and fairly basic, is really quite lovely. It’s clean, and has almost all you need to change and feed your little ones. And it’s big enough to fit a shopping trolley and probably a pram or two. Happy days.

There are two change bays, each with straps to keep little ones from rolling on to the floor. The nappy bins are right next to the bays (very handy). There are a couple of colourful artworks on the walls which are pretty cute. They brighten up the room anyway.

For feeding, there are two cubicles. While the interiors are very basic (ie a single office chair in each), each has a lockable door. That gets a thumbs up from me. Being able to lock the door when you are feeding your little one just makes you feel a bit more secure and comfortable. Now you can get a pram into the feeding cubicles, it’s just that it may require a three point turn to get in there and shut the door. But I think it’d be worth the effort.

Opposite the change bays is the sink. Now again it is super clean (it’s rare to find a parent room that’s so well looked after), but there isn’t any paper towel dispenser. Just a small stack of towels next to the sink. Not sure what happens when that little amount runs out. But there is soap and a hand dryer so all is not lost. Have to say I was a bit surprised to not see a Microwave here, but with all the cafes outside you might be able to sweet talk one of them into warming up bottles or food for you.

The toilet in this Parent Room is immaculate. Quite a wonderful thing for a public facility. The only real downside is the lack of an extra kid-sized loo. Other than that, I really couldn’t fault it. Incredibly clean, the whole thing. And naturally there’s all the things you’d expect. sink soap, hand-dryer, toilet seat sanitiser.

If you’re in the area, let me know what you think of the Parent Room at West Ryde Marketplace. I think it’s pretty good, and so are the people who shop there too. Some of the other mums and bubs we met while we were out today were just lovely. Amazing what a ‘Hi, how old is your bubby?’ can do! Big smiles, lovely chatter and conversation with another grown up. This Parent Room project of mine is really helping to get me out of my shell (I can hear the shrieks of surprise from some people already – yes, I am actually shy at times, not that you’d believe it :)). Meeting other mums, dads and bubs every day is good fun. Plus it helps me know what people are looking for in a decent Parent Room. And I just don’t know who I’ll meet from day to day.