Statement from our Mayor Marcus Pearl on the proposed sale of early years education and care centres

Our Council last night decided against selling three community-run early years education and care centres, subject to finalisation of funding arrangements.

This follows community consultation about the future of these centres - at 17 Eildon Road, St Kilda, 39 The Avenue, Balaclava, and 46 Tennyson Street Elwood – including with their operators.

Under the resolution, Council will seek to rebuild or renovate these centres if this funding is received.

Council Officers have been discussing options for funding support with the Victorian and Australian Governments for major upgrades to our Council’s childcare centre portfolio. While these confidential discussions are still underway, we have released this update for transparency.

We can report there have been productive conversations with the Victorian Department of Education and Training about long-term early childhood infrastructure needs across our City, including at those three centres. Discussions with the Department about potential co-funding arrangements under the Building Blocks Partnership program are progressing well.

We remain committed to continuing to invest in infrastructure across Port Phillip and would welcome opportunities to partner with the Victorian and Australian Governments in this. This is consistent with our Council’s long history of providing and supporting early childhood learning and care. We own 17 facilities which provide over a third of our City’s licenced childcare places.

We want to acknowledge the significant community interest in the future of these centres and thank everyone who provided feedback for us to consider.

While we cannot provide further details due to the confidentiality of these continuing discussions, we will update our community on this important issue as soon as we can.


The Q&A section of this page will remain open so officers can answer any question on the proposal.

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If you'd like to ask a question or you're after more information about this project, you can submit a question in the Q&A below.

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We've created this space for you to ask questions to Council officers. Please provide any feedback through the submission form so we can keep a formal record of all feedback received.

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Anthony Savenkov - Head of Real Estate Portfolio


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Anthony Savenkov

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