20 year lease on Mount Penang Parklands for Parklands Community Preschool

Parklands Community Preschool has secured its stake in the Mount Penang Parklands after obtaining a 20-year lease following a sustained period of advocacy from local member for Gosford Liesl Tesch, along with NSW Labor Leader (now Premier), Chris Minns who called upon the then-NSW Government to end its efforts to increase the rent on the preschool or take the lease to market.

The not-for-profit community-run service has 96 children enrolled, and is one of only three community-based preschools left in the southern end of the Central Coast, having served the local community for more than 40 years. 

There is a long standing staff team of seventeen, many of whom have been employed by the service for decades. 

Under the Government’s original plans, many members of the preschool community were concerned about the preschool’s ability to remain viable and for the preschool to keep its doors open. 

“This new contract recognises the significant contribution of the Parklands Community Preschool and its long history of educating generations of families right across the Kariong community,” Ms Tesch shared with local news source Coast Community News. 

She thanked “the many wonderful people who work (at the preschool), community members and the parents who have worked really hard to get to this outcome.”

Service director Phoebe Wilby in turn thanked Ms Tesch and her team for their “unwavering support,” saying the outcome was an exciting one for the preschool, also acknowledging the Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation for supporting the preschool.

“We look forward to being here in the community for years to come.”

Access the original coverage of this story here.