Unmet demand in Sunbury kindergartens will reach 751 by 2036, according to the latest data by Hume council.
Council released its joint Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plan for 2025-2036 with the state government, which revealed which suburbs will experience the highest amount of unmet demand for kindergarten placements.
Mickleham-Yuroke is expected to be the hardest hit by 2036, with an estimated 1446 children without a kindergarten spot in the area.
Craigieburn, Westmeadows, Broadmeadows and Greenvale-Bulla will also experience unmet demand, according to the KISP.
This high demand will be due to the expansion of the government’s pre-prep rollout, which will offer 30 hours per week for four-year-old kindergarten.
The plan stated that the municipality is forecast to grow to almost 342,000 people over the next 10 years, with more than half of households containing families with children under the age of 15 years.
With Hume experiencing high-moderate levels of growth throughout Craigieburn, Mickleham and Sunbury, a key challenge identified in the KISP suggests there is a lack of land availability across the municipality for new kindergarten services to be built, as well as older kindergartens being smaller in size.
In Sunbury, due to the current demand, council reopened Dobell Kindergarten this year, to provide short-term relief, however the plan notes Sunbury will experience higher kindergarten placement shortages from 2029.
The KISP was noted at the September 8 council meeting.
“Our first KISP developed in 2021 led to five infrastructure projects, aimed at increasing kindergarten capacity. All of these projects are now complete, with four out of the five operational in 2025,” Cr Karen Sherry said.
“The 2025 KISP has identified several suburbs across Hume that may experience unmet demand for kindergarten places by 2036, particularly as the pre-prep program expands to offer 30 hours for four year olds.
“These suburbs are Sunbury, Craigieburn South, Westmeadows, Broadmeadows and Mickleham North … this might mean we will have some renovations of existing facilities occurring, but any future response will require assessment with the Department of Education.”
