The new location for Bungendore Preschool is (very) near a yellow house belonging to the local CWA branch. Photo: Suzanne Blair.
A Bungendore preschool has signed a new 40-year lease as it starts planning for a new building on a “beautiful, big block”.
The community preschool was leasing a site on Turallo Terrace, owned by St Mary’s Parish, but was left without a permanent home after it expired.
Bungendore Preschool Acting Chairperson Michelle Macarthur-King said the move was made increasingly urgent in the face of growing demand.
“We were at a point where the preschool needed to expand … We just need to be bigger to be able to serve the whole town,” she said.
“We’re really looking forward just to having the opportunity to expand this preschool and give the kids of Bungendore a larger, new facility to play in.”
They received a $1.6 million NSW Department of Education capital works grant in 2023, which will cover the cost of a new building.
According to the preschool’s website, it is licensed to operate a 39-place preschool within the NSW Department of Education term dates.
The preschool currently operates two classrooms, but Ms Macarthur-King said the move raised the possibility of an expansion.
“We are unable to provide [spaces for three-year-olds] at this point.
“By expanding, we should be able to comply with that.”
Planning started when a past CWA president met preschool committee members at a pig race fundraiser, and they had what current president Donna Bush called “a discussion by chance”.
Ms Bush said signing the lease documents after more than a year of planning was “fantastic”.
“We’ve got a beautiful, big block in Gibraltar Street … It’s got some cute trees on it, but it’s basically a large grass block,” she said.
“It’s the perfect amenity to place a building like a preschool.”
The next step is to formally subdivide the block and lodge plans for the preschool.
A joint committee with representatives from the preschool and the CWA will be formed to manage the planning and transition phases.
“We are in for another long period of time implementing this,” she said.
“But it is really special [to be working together] and we will be really pleased when we open.”
In a statement, Bungendore Preschool said it was looking to move into the new location at the end of next year, before lessons began in 2027.
Their operations are expected to be unchanged through 2026.
Ms MacArthur-King said the move offered a much-needed “path forward” to early childhood carers and families.
“Everybody knows that beautiful building that the CWA has … It’s really lovely to be able to keep that original building there and mix the old with the new.
“We are very lucky and very blessed that this opportunity fell into place.”
