THREE kindergartens in the Bendigo region could close by 2027 under the City of Greater Bendigo's proposed Early Years Infrastructure Strategy.
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The draft strategy is open for community feedback until March 23 as council considers future early years infrastructure projects.
Under the proposed strategy, Bendigo Preschool, Eaglehawk Kindergarten and White Hills Kindergarten would close by 2027 and their student places redistributed to help meet demand in other areas of Bendigo.
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Expansions are slated for Spring Gully Kindergarten by 2025 and Epsom Kindergarten by 2026 while a new Marong Kindergarten and Community Hub would be built by 2024.
City of Greater Bendigo community wellbeing manager Richie Evans said most of the buildings the city owns or manages for early years services are more than 35 years old and some are simply no longer suitable to run a contemporary service from.
"It is the recommendation to close those kinders but we are looking at consolidating and redistributing that load across the city," he said.
"White Hills, for example, that building there isn't fit for contemporary services. We know regional data shows the need to maintain spaces in that region, but we haven't got space at White Hills to expand, so are looking to take the opportunity to expand Epsom
"Bendigo Preschool is in an area that, based on data, has a significant oversupply of places. There are more places than there is children.
"It's our oldest site and the (closure) recommendation is based around the fact that is it doesn't meet contemporary standards.
"We know the big ticket items (from the draft strategy) is the closure of sites. It can be emotional, we understand that.
"But we are making sure we provide enough spaces for children coming into Bendigo. (Council) is not in a position to take things away - it is common knowledge the city is growing and will keep growing."
Mr Evans said a fit-for-contemporary purpose service would hold 66 student places and include two playrooms, indoor and outdoor playspaces, have access for people of all abilities as well as suitable staff amenities and storage space.
"There is a number of things we take into account," he said.
"We prefer (sites) to be co-located with other services such as maternal child health or allied health and have good proximity to activity centres such as being 10 minutes from urban Bendigo or 20 minutes from rural Bendigo.
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"We are looking to build at Marong with 66 places (available) and Spring Gully, which we could look to expand to two rooms and 66 places.
"We are also advocating a kinder on a school site at Eaglehawk and California Gully and would push for a minimum of 66 places in that."
The areas in Greater Bendigo that don't have enough kindergarten places include the zone covering Marong, Lockwood, Ravenswood, Mandurang, Sedgwick, Emu Creek, Axe Creek, and the zone covering Eppalock, Eaglehawk, California Gully, Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk North and Jackass Flat.
"That southern region is a huge region from Marong and Ravenswood around to Axe Creek and Sedgwick, which the opportunity to expand Spring Gully (would help)," he said.
"In Marong and Ravenswood, we know there is unmet demand there. We know that is a big growth corridor."
Mr Evans said council had been working on the draft strategy for almost two years and was largely data driven.
"A lot of what we do is data driven," he said.
"(These proposed changes) are not immediate changes. It's a long run up as we look to transition away from those three sites, build the Marong kinder and look at expanding Spring Gully and Epsom. We know the demand is there.
"It's taken 18 months to get to this point after a lot of work with current providers and consultation with impacted stakeholders.
"Now we want to hear what the community says. We have left it open quite a while. People can (give feedback) until March 23."
Mr Evans said Greater Bendigo's population was growing and the recent introduction of funded three and four-year old kindergarten was placing pressure on the ageing kindergarten infrastructure owned or managed by the city.
"The draft strategy was developed following an analysis of supply and demand for kindergarten places in each region, an analysis of the location of city owned buildings in comparison to other service providers, building audits including condition reports and maintenance costs per year and targeted community consultation," Mr Evans said,
Residents can provide their feedback by visiting the City's Let's Talk webpage here by Wednesday March 23.
All feedback received by the city will be considered and any changes will be incorporated into the final early years infrastructure strategy before it is presented to council for adoption.
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