General News
17 September, 2025
Does Cobden need a childcare centre?
COBDEN is a small town known for its prime agricultural land and booming dairy industry, but one thing it lacks is a childcare centre.
Young families are forced to search out-of-town for childcare and long day care options such as in Camperdown, where there is already a long waiting list.
As a business owner of over 20 years, long-time Cobden resident Chris Walsh said he’s seen the impact a lack of childcare is having on the Cobden community.
“There’s a need for the town to keep going forward,” he said.
“Being president of the Cobden Junior Football Netball Club, we need young families to come to the town.
“There are mothers and fathers that want to pursue their careers while they have young families and they need a childcare facility to do this.
“The town of Cobden isn’t landlocked so there’s blocks for sale and there’s houses for sale, so for families it’s quite affordable to move to the area.
“It is still fairly close to the major towns like Colac, Warrnambool, Camperdown and the coast.”
Mr Walsh, as the owner of CW Electrical, said with ample employment opportunities in Cobden it made sense to bring childcare to the town as well.
“If you look at the big businesses that work out of Cobden it’s a no-brainer why we haven’t got one,” he said.
“To name a few, we’ve got Fonterra, Monk and Son, CopRice, Reid Stockfeed, Logans, Cobdenhealth, GreenCon, Hampden Vets, Cobden Artificial Breeders – they all employ a lot of people.
“If you went through the businesses that work out of Cobden and how many they employ, it’s probably up there with the biggest employment in the Corangamite Shire.
“Cobden is a developing town for employment.
“I think people have to realise that.”
While Camperdown has a childcare facility and is nearby, Mr Walsh said Cobden “can’t rely” on other towns to support its population.
“Cobden needs childcare for a town to survive,” he said.
“We can’t rely on other towns to facilitate our town. We need infrastructure in Cobden.
“At the moment, people are travelling in for work and travelling out.
“We have a school, a kindergarten and many other great facilities in the town – we’re just missing that key component.”
Read More: Cobden