Macedon Ranges council has decided to push for the construction of a new kindergarten in Kyneton as the town’s existing kinder faces numerous challenges.
The council has allocated $200,000 towards the kinder in the draft 2018-19 budget and is hoping for $650,000 in state money to get construction started within that time.
The new early learning centre will be built within Kyneton’s education precinct on Edgecombe Street where the Department of Education has allocated land for a facility to be co-located with the new Kyneton Primary School.
The council resolved at its recent meeting to advocate for state and federal funding for the new facility, which it is estimated will cost about $3.7 million.
The council heard that the current Lady Brooks Kindergarten and Maternal Child Health Centre on Hutton Street could not take on more children.
Council community services manager Fiona Alexander said reports showed the “ageing facility” had limited capacity for renewal, upgrade and expansion.
“In 2018 the kindergarten is operating at full capacity,” Ms Alexander told the meeting.
Investigations have found the building contains asbestos and there are concerns about the proximity of the kinder to Kyneton courthouse and police station.
Macedon Ranges council’s 2017-18 budget allocated $25,000 for schematic design and planning of a new early learning centre, as required for grant applications.
The council will apply for $650,000 from the Department of Education’s Children’s Facilities Capital Program in the coming months for stage one of the build.
It will then continue to push for other state and federal government funding.
The council previously sought state funding in November, 2016, to build an early learning centre, but was unsuccessful.
