Port Phillip Council partners with Vic Government under Building Blocks initiative

The Port Phillip Council has partnered with the Victorian Government under its Building Blocks initiative to future-proof six early childhood  education and care (ECEC) centres in the City of Port Phillip.

The Council will contribute $18 million while the Victorian Government will provide up to $12.6 million towards the project, with the announcement following a recent decision by the Council to not sell three ageing community-run ECEC services (Eildon Road Childcare and Kindergarten, St Kilda, The Avenue Children’s Centre and Kindergarten, Balaclava, and the Elwood Children’s Centre), subject to this funding agreement being reached.

Port Phillip Council Mayor Marcus Pearl said that over the next seven years the partnership will ensure the six centres within the auspices of the council requiring significant renovation or replacement will be made fit-for-purpose. 

• Eildon Road Childcare and Kindergarten, St Kilda
• The Avenue Children’s Centre and Kindergarten, Balaclava
• Elwood Children’s Centre
• North St Kilda Children’s Centre
• Clarendon Children’s Centre, South Melbourne
• Lilian Cannam Kindergarten, South Melbourne.

Works for the first three centres will be prioritised under the partnership, and the Mayor thanked the Victorian Government for “this vital support as the scope of these works meant we couldn’t deliver these significant renewals alone”.

“We also want to thank the community members and centre committees for the passion and ideas they contributed to this terrific outcome,” the Mayor said, saying the Council was glad that the announcement would provide certainty “to both the operators and the families and care-givers using, or planning to use, these community resources”. 

The services involved in the announcement will be consulted about the design, and will be supported during the works to minimise disruption to operations when construction is underway.

“This is an exciting step forward as the significant investment provided under the agreement adds to our City’s proud history of providing and supporting early childhood learning and care,” Mayor Pearl added.

The Council owns 17 facilities, providing over a third of Port Phillip’s licenced childcare places.