The small seaside community of Tumby Bay is still fighting for a solution a year after it was deemed a "childcare desert" by an Australian think tank.
Every week, local grandmother Nancy Stewart bakes fresh scones and puts on the free playgroup Song and Play for children to socialise.
Ms Stewart, who has been involved in childcare since 1972, said she was shocked by how little was available on the Eyre Peninsula.
"Parents come along [to playgroup] and they all talk about [how] they cannot go back to work because they can't get childcare," she said.
A committee was formed after she pleaded with residents to get involved in an emergency meeting about childcare earlier this month.
Tumby Bay was one of a handful of SA towns named among the most difficult areas in Australia to find childcare in a study by the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University last year.
"It's a huge problem, not just in Tumby Bay but all across the Eyre Peninsula," Ms Stewart said.
A growing problem
There is only one childcare provider in Tumby Bay called Rural Care however, there are limited numbers allowed to attend due to certain regulations Ms Stewart described as "complicated".
On Mondays and Fridays the centre is set up for just 19 children, and Tuesday through to Thursday there is only space for 14 kids due to the preschool running in the same venue.
Local mother-of-two Glenys Sauturaga said she did not realise just how much emotion was involved with the problem until the public meeting.
"People are exhausted, it's been a huge harvest, and the implications of that on the community and the stress has been difficult when you're trying to plan ahead," she said.
She expected the problem to get worse as young families grew.
"We have at least a dozen families expecting children in a little while," she said.
Among the parents and grandparents present at Song and Play was an 18-year-old aunty, Olivia Rudiger, who had flown over from Adelaide to look after her sister's three children while she travelled for work.
"If I wasn't able to fly over, she'd be at home. She wouldn't be able to work her business, she wouldn't be able to make any money — she was struggling," Ms Rudgier said.
"I love spending time with them [the kids] of course, it's just a little bit sad that it's under this sort of circumstance."
Another local, Stephanie Whitehair, said she often had to look after her two-year-old twin granddaughters from Cleve.
She said she loved spending time with the children but the lack of services on the Eyre Peninsula required her to drive more than 200 kilometres to help her family out.
"They've been on the waitlist for rural care since the girls were born," she said.
"It's a big struggle for my daughter. She wouldn't be able to work [without childcare] and she's a nurse, and we also know there's a nurse shortage on the Eyre Peninsula."
New committee brings hope
Tumby Bay Council chief executive Rebecca Hayes said the lack of childcare in the region had a circular effect.
"If we can't have childcare, we don't have enough housing," she said.
"That means we're not getting skilled and professional people moving to our region.
"We've got a lot of jobs where we're calling for people."
Ms Hayes said the council had been working behind the scenes with the education department to find a solution, and she was delighted there would be a new committee.
"It is dire. I'm absolutely delighted we've got a group of community members driving this committee, "she said.
Ms Stewart said it was crucial answers were found soon.
"There needs to be more space for children, a space where people can freely go to work if they wish to and a safe place for children," she said.
Flinders MP Sam Telfer, Regional Development Association chief executive Ryan Viney and Port Lincoln councillor Andrea Broadfoot were among those who attended the meeting.
Ms Stewart said while the committee was in its formative stage, members had already secured a meeting with the federal Shadow Minister for Child Care and Grey MP, Rowan Ramsey.
"I don't think we're going to let this meeting stop at a talkfest, we want to go forward and drive the issue," she said.
