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Red Cliffs Early Years dubbed “most transformative community infrastructure project”
Freya Lucas
Aug 16, 2023
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The Red Cliffs Early Years Integrated Centre has been dubbed “one of the most transformative community infrastructure projects ever proposed for Red Cliffs” and will soon become a reality following a $6 million funding announcement by the Victorian Government.
The funding will allow replacement of the town’s existing kindergarten with a modern, centralised hub of early years services, which will double kindergarten capacity.The new facility, Mildura Mayor Liam Wood said, will address a critical need to ensure early years services keep up with demand in the Red Cliffs area.
“The Victorian Government’s early years reforms, combined with sustained population growth in Red Cliffs, means the town’s kindergarten is now at capacity,” Mayor Wood said.
“Without urgent action, some children in the town will have missed out on a place at this site.”
The multimillion-dollar project, which is fully funded by the Victorian Government, will include:
- Four kindergarten rooms
- Maternal and child health consultation rooms
- Toy library facilities
- Community multi-use space
- Breastfeeding room and larger foyer.
The Mayor said Council’s successful funding application for the Red Cliffs Early Years Integrated Centre illustrated the benefits of strong and persistent advocacy.
“This is the culmination of years of advocacy, working side-by-side with the local community and user groups of the new facility,” he said.
“With the community’s support identifying and demonstrating the critical need for such a facility, we were able to put forward a very strong case for Victorian Government funding to make it a reality.”
YMCA will manage the kindergarten program, and the Council will work with the YMCA as well as the broader kindergarten community, including the toy library and maternal and child health team, to decide how best to meet the future needs of the community.
As part of the construction phase, the existing kindergarten will be demolished to make way for the new centre. During this time the kindergarten, toy library and maternal and child health service will be temporarily relocated to ensure these services can continue to be delivered.
Construction is expected to start in 2024. The $6 million in funding has been announced as part of the Victorian Government’s Building Blocks Capacity Integrated Children’s Centre grant program.
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