Pakenham to get new child centre

A NEW children’s centre will be built in Pakenham.
Cardinia Shire Council has been allocated $1.54 million over the next four years from the State Government’s Department of Human Services.
In 2004, Cardinia and eight other ‘interface’ councils joined forces to put a proposal to government regarding the need for additional support for social infrastructure and poorly serviced local government areas that bridge the interface between urban and rural areas.
Cardinia will receive $1.2 million over three years for the new children’s centre in Pakenham and $100,000 over three years to assist in the development of innovative service approaches in children’s service areas.
Cardinia will also receive $50,000 for planning and consultation across the interface councils to assist in integration of services and share knowledge of what delivers better outcomes for children and their families especially in areas of disadvantage.
“Cardinia is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Victoria and we really need additional funding to deliver the appropriate level of services to meet the needs of children and their families,” said council’s general manager of community wellbeing Fiona Hodges.
“We are pleased to receive this funding following our joint submission to the State Government,” she said.
“As one of the interface councils, we have differing needs to the Melbourne councils, with the requirement to balance our urban population needs with those of the rural areas. Cardinia also has a wide geographical spread with isolated areas which lead to further difficulties in providing adequate services,” Ms Hodges said.
“This funding will enable us to provide for children and their families wherever they might be located, whether in the Pakenham growth corridor or in one of the smaller townships,” she said.
“The funding for planning and innovative service provision will allow us to look more closely at best practice and the most cost effective and efficient way that we can provide the services in the future,” Ms Hodges said.
The first step is to prepare an implementation plan for submission to the Department of Human Services by December and will involve consultation with key stakeholder organisations.
Council will then receive the allocated funding in a combination of one-off payments or over three and four years, enabling council to meet current needs and expectations while planning for service provision into the future.