EARLY-childhood services in Knox are under threat with Knox Council's investment in the area falling from 15 per cent of its capital works budget to just 1 per cent, prompting a councillor to say the council should be ashamed of itself.
In three years' time, Knox will not have the capacity to provide sufficient places for its four-year-olds as other levels of government seek to increase weekly kinder hours from 10 to 15.
The council's Early Years Strategic Services and Facilities report last week revealed that the council's investment in renewing early-years infrastructure had declined from 15 per cent of its capital works budget in 2006-2007 to just 1 per cent in 2009-2010.
"A potential consequence of falling investment is that the council's early-years facilities, which were considered innovative and appropriate in the 1970s, may not keep up with emerging standards, demands and contemporary service models."
Cr Darren Pearce slammed the council for not investing in early-childhood services but spending on sustainability initiatives.
"All of us, the new council included, should be ashamed of ourselves. Our children are our most important thing. If there are capital works which are in their interest, they should get the priorities."
Community services director Kerry Stubbings said the council's priority was to spend its funding based on "good knowledge and data" rather than replacing like for like.
She said the council also had a renewal budget that covered ongoing maintenance work, including at preschools.
With the federal and state governments overhauling their early-childhood policies, the report states:
"By 2013, it is predicted that the council's current facilities will not have capacity to provide sufficient places to offer 15 hours [a week] of preschool to the number of eligible four-year-old children who will potentially be residing in Knox."
But at a meeting last week, a majority of councillors voted that if government initiatives required further infrastructure works to meet additional preschool demand for services beyond that projected for 2013, the council would not contribute.
Instead, it would advocate for funding from other levels of government.
Cr David Cooper said he was happy to work with the state and federal governments to increase kindergarten hours, but ‘‘if it is their initiative, they should pay for it’’.
Cr Adam Gill, however, feared that preschool places had been put at risk.
Education Department spokesman Nick Higgins said boosting kindergarten attendance for four-year-olds from 10 to 15 hours a week by 2013 was a key commitment of a Council of Australian Governments agreement.
He said grants of $50,000 were available to help Victorian councils plan for the implementation of the agreement.
He said renovation and refurbishment grants of up to $250,000 were also available for kindergartens to upgrade amenities before the move to 15 hours.
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