An inner Sydney childcare centre on the brink of closure has been handed a lifeline, as parents fight to keep the doors open.
Goodstart Early Learning has announced plans to shut its east Sydney service in Darlinghurst on November 26, blaming high costs, prompting a petition to save it.
The not-for-profit, which rents the site from the City of Sydney, said the centre was making a "significant loss" despite high occupancy.
It said the centre needed more staff to supervise children as it was spread over multiple levels.
In addition, the provider said the federal government had rejected its request to raise its fees beyond a current cap of $175 per day.
In response to the uproar, council offered the early learning centre 12 months free rent while its future is resolved.
"I hope this gives comfort and certainty to parents that we are committed to ensuring stability and the learning community they have built in Darlo [Darlinghurst]," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said on social media.
The provider, which leases three other sites from the City of Sydney, is yet to say whether it has accepted the rent waiver.
The ABC has reached out for comment.
'There aren't many options in the area'
On Saturday, Tim Martin was among parents who rallied at Kings Cross to save the centre.
"Losing the centre would be so devastating," the father-of-two said.
"What we really feel for is the staff of the centre too, they probably won't have jobs."
Mr Martin said he and his wife had already canvassed close to six centres nearby.
"They're all full, some have a day here or there, but it's just not doable."
Goodstart closed two other centres earlier this year at Bondi Junction.
Another not-for-profit in Paddington could also be lost as the site is earmarked to be sold.
Fiona Thatcher said her 11-month-old daughter Mave had been on the centre's waiting list since she was in the womb.
"It would certainly involve enrolling in multiple centres, driving quite a distance … it would also mean losing the educators, which was the primary motivators for getting together like this."
Ms Thatcher said she did not think the area could accommodate the 60 families enrolled at the childcare centre and the more than 100 on its waiting list.
Labor Councillor Zann Maxwell said the demand was there, but the provider had given "mixed messages" about the site's closure.
"The last thing we want to see is the loss of a childcare centre in the inner-city," he said.
"We want to be making sure that this is the kind of place where all sorts of people can live, including young families, and we're not serious about it if we let places like this close."
Cr Maxwell said if the Goodstart centre could not survive, the City of Sydney should step in and run its own centre in the area.
The council already owns and operates four centres.
