New kindergarten to meet future demand

A new kindergarten will be built at the Drouin West Primary School site.

The dual room modular kindergarten is expected to meet a projected shortage of more than 170 kindergarten places in Drouin over the next eight years.

Baw Baw Shire Council will partner with the State Government to deliver a dual room kindergarten, creating an additional 66 kindergarten placements.

Council will contribute $300,000 for the fit-out and car park works.

It is planned the facility will be operational for the 2023 kindergarten year.

Earlier this year, council committed to proactively seeking funding opportunities for co-investment in kindergarten infrastructure for three and four-year-old students, including the provision of new or expanded infrastructure.

Council’s Kindergarten Infrastructure Services Plan identified there would be unmet demand in the Drouin area of six places in 2025 and growing to 173 places by 2029.

Officers said the creation of 66 new kindergarten places would provide council with additional time to adequate plan for one of the community centres identified in the Drouin precinct structure plan, which may not be required until 2030.

“Co-located kindergartens on school sites provide many benefits including making drop-off time simpler and more convenient for families with less travel, and providing children with a smooth transition from kindergarten to school,” the report said.

Cr Joe Gauci said this was a good news story.

He said as recognised by the Early Years Advisory Committee, Drouin and surrounds would have a shortfall that would continue to increase over time.

“Council has always been pro-active in advocating for new kinders and keeping in front of the demand,” he said.

Cr Gauci said the new kindergarten would come at a cost to council.

“Some people would say it’s not our responsibility to pay for education facilities or to pay for the ongoing lease. But I think this is great and something we really need,” he said.

Cr Keith Cook said every parent deserved the right to send their children to kindergarten.

“We all know how Drouin is growing to the west. This will not only provide for spaces for locals but the community west of Drouin,” he said.

Cr Michael Leaney said $300,000 was a good investment to put in place facilities needed for a growing community.

“But, progressively we are using what land there is on our existing school sites.

“Imagine if the $22 million at Drouin primary School was combined with this – we could’ve built a new facility on a greenfield site.

“There needs to be a high level think about this to provide new facilities to cater for the growth of Warragul and Drouin rather than just adding onto what we already have,” he said.