By Parker McKenzie
Yarra Ranges Council has endorsed Mount Dandenong Kindergarten’s redevelopment and relocation onto Mount Dandenong Primary School’s site, while also contributing $400,000 towards a kindergarten-plus model.
At the council meeting on Tuesday 23 June, councillors voted on a recommendation by council officers to endorse the move of the site to the Primary School facility and contribute money for developmental programs.
Streeton Ward Cr Andrew Fullagar said the school’s damage was a reminder of the June 2021 storms.
“A number of options were explored including permanently closing it, to rebuild at the existing site as it was, rebuilding the site with a Kinder Plus model, collocating it with the Mount Dandenong Primary School and collocating with a kinder plus model again, and finally permanently relocated to the Olinda Primary School,” he said.
“The existing site is problematic. It has serious access and egress problems there as well.”
The preschool’s building, which was owned by the council, was damaged in the June 2021 storms. The kindergarten was temporarily moved to a vacant building at Olinda Primary School.
Cr Fullagar said there have been long timelines for clearing the rebuild due to insurance issues.
“The land that the existing school is on is actually Department of Environment and Climate Change land. So our aim is to see the committee of management there and revert the actual land back to them to look after because totally surrounded by National Park,” he said.
“I can’t wait for the school to be rebuilt as with the community, and we look forward to some sort of conclusion to the existing reminder at the current site.”
Council officers reported that significant challenges existed in rebuilding the existing preschool site, including traffic and access, bushfire and planning constraints, topography and proximity to large trees.
Cr Roy Higgins said the endorsement was a “fantastic result.”
“It means that parents no longer have to drop off at one place go down the road drop off at another and pick up vice versa,” he said.
“This is a really good outcome for our community up on the hills.”
Kinder Plus is a small-group program for children with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorder.
The motion was passed unanimously.
