Church offers kinder an olive branch
The Bowen Park Kindergarten Committee, its cluster manager the YMCA and the Warragul Church of Christ have agreed to a commercial lease which will allow the kindergarten to operate for a final year next year.
Currently the kinder is in its last year of a non-paying agreement which has seen the kinder use the Church’s facilities in Bowen St, Warragul for the original 25 years followed by the option of an additional five years.
The agreement will help end the uncertainty surrounding the situation at Bowen Park which has been ongoing for the past eight years.
Kindergarten committee president Jayne McGoldrick said it appeared Baw Baw Shire Council was considering the possibility of building a new facility in Warragul to relocate Bowen Park Kindergarten.
But council announced a new strategy in November 2013 for the provision of kindergarten services within the shire.
The council motion which “re-confirmed that council does not provide kindergarten services”; was moved and carried by council.
Ms McGoldrick said that whilst council’s stated preference for “co-location with schools” had supported the township of Drouin, the Warragul Primary School feasibility study, paid for by council in 2014 deemed the site unsuitable for a kindergarten facility.
Ms McGoldrick said the kindergarten had sought additional advice from the Municipal Association of Victoria and Early Learning Association Australia. Here they have encountered the same hurdle which requires a cocontribution of funds from local government to apply for any capital grants from the Department of Education and Training, she said.
“Past Bowen Park Committees have led an ongoing campaign which has included meetings with ward councillors, the council’s family services team, Baw Baw Shire chief executive Helen Anstis, local members of parliament Gary Blackwood and Harriet Shing, representation at Ratepayers Association meetings, submitting questions on notice at council meetings, budget submissions, petitions, letters to the editor in local and state newspapers, and representation on ABC 774.”
“Parents have been passionate in their efforts to secure Bowen Park an alternative home for future families,” she said.
Ms McGoldrick praised the efforts and compassion of the Church of Christ to find a solution.
Ray Earl who has been liaison representative for almost the entire duration of the lease said “the church and kinder have shared a great partnership, however our scope and needs have changed over the years.
“The Church now requires the additional space to support our growing congregation, professional counselling services and the needs of our community. We hope an additional year will help families and the BBSC to plan accordingly,” he said.
YMCA children’s services manager Julie Bowe said YMCA and other Early Childhood Service Providers in Baw Baw would continue to work with council to understand the demographics of the community and to ensure plans were in place to meet the demand for kindergarten places in the future.
Bowen Park Kinder is currently the only Early Childhood service in Warragul to have received a rating of exceeding under the compulsory national ASECQA accreditation system.