January 25th, 2022Better Kindergartens

The State Government is supporting kindergartens in Macedon to help plan their future infrastructure projects, creating extra places for three- and four-year-old children in growing areas across the state.

Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas today announced the Macedon Ranges Shire Council is one of 39 recipients sharing in $5 million worth of Building Blocks Planning Grants of up to $150,000 each, helping them plan and design infrastructure projects that support the Labor Government’s statewide roll-out of Three-Year-old Kindergarten.
The Planning Grant will support Council’s Early Years team to conduct scoping, feasibility and pre-planning work in preparation for applying for Building Blocks Grants.
The funding will be used in two ways:
• Scoping and feasibility of suitable land for new builds in relevant townships.
• Pre-planning work such as architect designs, soil testing, quantity surveyor reports and other testing as needed.
Grants can support the preparations for a project, or a pipeline of projects, that might seek future Building Blocks construction grant funding. The grants can be used for work such as planning scope development, design preparation, soil investigations or construction costing works.
In an Australian-first, the Government has invested almost $5 billion to deliver a full 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kinder to children across the state over this decade, with the roll-out beginning in selected areas in 2020 and expanding in 2022 to support five hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten statewide. To find out more, visit schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/Pages/Building-Blocks-Grants-Planning.
Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas said:
“Congratulations to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council for their Planning Grant – I can’t wait to see their projects come to life to provide more kindergarten places for our 3 and 4 years old.”
Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt said:
“The new planning grants will help kinders plan projects that increase places for more kids, while removing the financial burden of planning costs that may be a barrier to important projects getting started.”